From Father Dan

COMMITTEE FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION FACILITIES or THE SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE.

 

MEMBERS: Mark Caines, Kenneth Johnston, Bob Cooper, Don Skeeters, Joe Stith, Aaron Clagg, Tina Yates, Wayne McCombs and Rick Stith.

Eventually our school building will need attention.  Currently it serves as religious education facilities for around 55 children in 9 grade levels as well as space for the Vacation Bible School.  Current operating cost is around $13,000 for heating/cooling, insurance, etc.  After two meetings the committee has seen the emergence of 4 main options on how to proceed.

  1. Keep the building for religious education classrooms and other parish uses.  Overall the building is sound and has all the space the parish will ever need even with any expected growth in the area.  Some major work will have to be done like windows ($50,000-60,000) and eventually roof repair but a lot of the work to make the space more efficient and attractive could be done over a period of time.
  2. Selling the building including the parking lot west of the building ($100,000-150,000) to the government for conversion into affordable housing (it may be senior housing depending on the government agency involved).  After renovation into around 18 individual units the government would hire a management firm to oversee the renting and maintenance of the building (over which we would have little or no control).  Many things would have to work out (local zoning, neighbor’s property, government funding, etc.) for the project to get this far.
  3. Demolish the building.  This would cost an estimated $100,000.
  4. If the building were sold or demolished we would have to come up with new space for religious education classes.  A rough estimate for enough classroom space to be built off the back of the gym would be around $250,000-300,000.

The next committee meeting is Thursday September 18 at 7:00 PM in the St. Brigid Room.  The committee is open to examine all possibilities and wants to hear your ideas, questions and opinions.  I would like the committee to make a recommendation to the parish council at their September or October meeting.

 

 

 

 

                                                        PEACE,

                                                        Rev. Dan Lincoln

 

 

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