St. Charles Parish Strategic Pastoral Plan for Facility Development

St. Charles Parish Mission Statement  To be active in inviting and welcoming our parishioners to live and learn our Catholic faith by involvement in weekly Eucharist, religious education, and social justice ministry.

PHASE ONE  Build Pastoral Care Center for offices between the current Church and School.  Build 4 classrooms on the East side of gymnasium for Early Childhood Educational Center and new façade to gymnasium.  Add 80 parking spaces to South Lot {current grass area}

 Family Gathering Center –Focuses the entryway –Enhances our Hospitality effort –Provides improved meeting capabilities  Hanley House Renovation Project –Last major renovation 1984 –Must improve to remain competitive PHASE TWO

 Study options of vacating Primrose Street –Elm Street to Lowell Avenue  Determine best use of house and lot on Primrose Street  Determine best use of current Rectory and Office building PHASE THREE

PHASE FOUR PHASE FOUR  Consider purchasing land (homes) along Wendell Avenue for future development –Parking Area –Playground Expansion –Additional Access for traffic flow

Proposed Development Plan

Phase 1 Proposed start date in October 2006

Pastoral Care Center What is it?  9 Private offices (2 of the 9 are for growth)  1 Conference room  2 Records storage rooms  Mechanical room  Lobby and reception area  Restrooms  Work Room for staff & volunteers

Proposed site

Pastoral Care Center Why Do We Need It?  Current office building has numerous structural barriers for efficiency and safety: including “fire trap” in basement, lack of handicapped accessibility crossing Elm St. for parking.  Several costly repairs needed: window replacement, foundation cracks, roof repairs and chimney leak.  Storage space is beyond capacity.  Confidential conference space is needed.  Over 30 parish ministries (beyond our elementary and high school ministries) are managed or supervised in the current space.  Room for growth while addressing current needs.

Early Childhood Education Center What is it?  4 New Classrooms –1 Preschool - 2 Kindergarten – 1 Extended Day  Restrooms that are “little people” friendly  Fully Secured – Safety Priority

Proposed site

Early Childhood Education Center Why Do We Need It?  4 new classrooms allow us to vacate the primary building. Cost savings of 80K in annual operating expenses upon vacating the building.  Prior to leasing the building on Spring Street, our 2 Kindergarten and Preschool were housed in the church basement.  Intervention specialists (3) and guidance counselor were outside the elementary building in “vans.”  Communication will improve among school staff members.

Why Do We Need It?  Library was expanded to a “Media Center” with internet access and multimedia availability.  Grades 3 and 4 are now on the Main floor of the Elementary building as opposed to school basement classrooms.  Classroom space is now needed due to numerous expanded course offerings including: Piano lab, Distance Learning Center.

Why Do We Need It? One classroom will be dedicated to our Extended Day Program for child care. This program has a 15 year history of taking care of children from 3 PM to 6 PM during the school year and 7;30 to 5:30 in the summer.One classroom will be dedicated to our Extended Day Program for child care. This program has a 15 year history of taking care of children from 3 PM to 6 PM during the school year and 7;30 to 5:30 in the summer. Centralized housing of children offers increased supervision for kids and added flexibility for church space.Centralized housing of children offers increased supervision for kids and added flexibility for church space.

MAKE$ $EN$E  Vacating Primary Building Saves $80,000 per year –Current operating costs for Primary Building are between 90 and 110k per year, depending on maintenance needs. –Our cost of utilities and maintenance for current church and school is $3.53 per square foot. Using that rate the new addition would cost $21,180.  New façade on gymnasium –Saves 20-30% in heating costs with new insulation

Parking Area What is it?  The current parking area is inadequate: –Special liturgies (Christmas, Easter) –Multiple events  Parishioners required to use neighboring streets –Safety Issues –Extreme difficulty for some –Inconvenient

Proposed site

Phase 2 Proposed start date Spring 2008

Family Gathering Center What is it?  Includes drive-thru canopy at south entrance  Large gathering space  Coat Room  Service (warming) Kitchen  Storage Space  Rest Rooms

Proposed site

Family Gathering Center Why Do We Need It? –Large entryway enhances our hospitality and welcoming efforts. –Large space can also be used for meetings, dinners, parish gatherings, coffee & donuts, Community Room for local events –Equipped with video feed allowing liturgy participation in overflow space for large events like Christmas / Easter –Enables parents to attend to small children without disruption utilizing the video feed. –Easy access from parking area with canopy.

Hanley House Renovations  Hanley House was established in 1984 to assist with the housing needs of low income Senior Citizens and declared a Parish Ministry in  7 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, kitchen, sun porch, basement, and laundry room need updated.  Last major improvements were in 1984.

Phase 3 Proposed start date: Ongoing

Assessment Review  Determine best use of 2 lots on Primrose Street  Determine best use of current Rectory and current Office Building (5 lots)  Study advantages/disadvantages of vacating Primrose Street –From Elm Street to Lowell Avenue

Phase IV Potential costs unknown Very much a “future” consideration No timeline

Cost Cost Estimates  Phase I –Early Childhood Education Center ~ $864,500  Includes new façade to gymnasium –Pastoral Care Center ~ $726,300 –Parking Area ~ $225,500 –Total Phase I ~ $1,816,300  Phase II –Family Gathering Center ~ $1,031,000 –Hanley House Renovations ~ $100,000 –Total Phase II ~ $1,131,000  10% of every gift dedicated to Foundation for Tuition Assistance and Repair and Maintenance ~ $294,730  Total Phase One and Phase Two ~ $3,242,030

Funds Currently Available  Total Project Cost$3,242,030  Current Cash On Hand$1,250,000 –February ’06 bequest dedicated to project  Total Project need$1,992,030

Endowment  By December 2006 we will surpass $1 million in our foundation. –One Faith Many Blessings-adds $500,000 –Two recent bequests require 1/3 of the gift to be dedicated to the endowment which totals approximately $100,000  We believe that 10% of each gift for this proposed project be dedicated to the endowment for future maintenance and utility costs.  New investment strategy projects an additional $36,000 in revenues for the parish next year.

FAQ’S

How will we afford additional building when we do not make the budget # posted in bulletin regularly?  Proposed changes in phase 1will HELP budget. –Lower operating costs –Plant operations will be lower on new buildings. –Greater efficiencies –Capital expenditure versus operating costs.

How is this different from previous parish plans?  Offers expanded parking and improved traffic flow.  The gathering space is MUCH smaller  Addresses the needs of multiple ministries in the parish  Much lower capital and operating costs.  Takes a long range approach to parish development.

What about other Catholic Schools?  Visionaries revealed a desire among the community for 3 parish elementary schools and one shared high school.  Collaboration will continue in all other areas.  Need to right-size at our school remains.  Gifts given thus far are for development of facilities at St. Charles.

Small group discussions