Renovate & Renew Town Meetings
April 22 and 24, 2006
The Project Coordinating Committee and the OPN team of Dan Thies, Jim Gast and Joe Tursi wish to thank the more than 250 parishioners who participated in the Town Meetings held on April 22 and April 24. A great deal of information was shared about why we are looking at a new Master Plan for the St. Matthew Parish Campus as well as a summary of the work completed by the PCC during this past year. OPN presented several options for renovating and building on the campus and those in attendance at the meetings had many wonderful comments, suggestions and questions.
A comprehensive report of the presentations from the Town Meetings as well as a Renovate & Renew Question & Answer document will be inserted in next weekend’s bulletin and these documents will be posted on the St. Matthew website, which is located at OPN presented three concept drawings for the church and Parish Office Center/Rectory (Concept A, Concept B and Concept C) and one concept drawing for the school and new Early Childhood Development Center. These concept plans will be on display in Kearn Hall following each of the masses on Saturday, May 6 and Sunday, May 7.
Additionally, we have placed one Suggestion Box in the back vestibule of the church and another Suggestion Box in Kearn Hall for parishioners to continue to provide feedback as we move through the Renovate & Renew project. We will check this box on a regular basis and we will respond to questions and comments by updating the Renovate & Renew Question & Answer document. If you wish to be contacted directly by a member of the PCC, please provide your name, phone number and/or email address on any information you submit to the Suggestion Box.
For those parishioners who were not able to attend the Town Meetings, we plan to have another series of Town Meetings after we refine the concept drawings. We strongly encourage everyone to attend these meetings as they are a valuable way to learn more about this project and share your feedback firsthand.
Parishioners are encouraged to contact members of the PCC if they have any questions about the Renovate & Renew Project. The members of the PCC are as follows:
Maggie Jackson,
Ann
Mike
Helen
Loras
John
Joe
Miranda
Sr. Catherine Stewart363.8213 x
Fr. Mark
(OVER)
Sequence of Events for Renovate & Renew Project
The Archdiocesan Building Commission requires any parish community considering a building or renovation project to follow a prescribed Sequence of Events Checklist. The PCC has complete Phase I of the seven-phase checklist. The seven phases of the Sequence of Events checklist are:
Phase I: Exploration – Complete
Phase II: Conceptual Planning – beginning stages
Phase III: Fundraising
Phase IV: Construction Drawings
Phase V: Bidding and Construction
Phase VI: Construction/Renovation
Phase VII: Dedication and Celebration
During Phase I: Exploration, the PCC has completed the following tasks:
Met with Msgr. Russell Bleich, Regional Vicar, to review the Archdiocesan Building Commission policies and procedures.
Completed walk-throughs of all buildings on the St. Matthew campus to develop list of needs.
Met with Fr. Don Klein to seek guidance and ideas from St. Pius X’s renovation and building campaign.
Met with Sr. Mary Kay Panowicz, a litigurical consultant, for her input on changes needed in the church.
Developed a structure for a Building Project Committee, with membership to be determined shortly.
Developed a case statement, which will be finalized once projects are prioritized.
Hosted Parish Information Sessions in September 2005 to provide information regarding the project and to gather input and ideas from the parish community.
Visited area churches that recently underwent renovation or new building projects.
Hired OPN, Inc. architectural firm to oversee the programming, design and building projects. More information on OPN can be found at
Hired Ralph Savoy to conduct a Campaign Planning & Philanthropic Feasibility Study.
Conducted demographic studies of the membership of St. Matthew Parish, school and CARE programs.
Reviewed all programming and space analysis of the buildings on the St. Matthew Campus. Determined the amount of square feet needed for each program area.
OPN Architects began putting ideas to paper and the committee brainstormed different options for space usage on the St. Matthew Campus, including the child development center, parish community center, school renovations, church renovations, gathering space and parking.
- Draft site plan presented by OPN, incorporating all space analysis ideas and concepts discussed during February work sessions.
- Participated in Small Faith Sharing to experience together the Lenten Reflections and Built of Living Stones documents
- Built of Living Stones can be found at
- Town Meetings held in April 2006 to gather input and ideas from the parish community.