Background
Information:
Schematic
Design - Site Plan
Why do we need a new church?
The simple answer is that we have outgrown the current church and
expanding it is not a realistic option. The church and Eagle River
are growing. On the average, three new families join our Parish every
week. When the current church was dedicated in 1981, Saint Andrew's
Parish was 274 families. Now we are over 1160 families. Although an
additional Sunday Mass was added, our church is often over-crowded.
And there is not adequate space to handle the demand for religious
education or for the numerous meetings and ministries that take place
every week. We no longer have the space we need to carry out our mission.
Expanding the church is not a realistic option because we are physically
constrained by the size of our land. It would be difficult if not
impossible to construct a larger church, parish hall, and a school
on the 3.2 acres we currently hold. Major construction would require
upgrading to current building codes, including the need for more parking.
A study conducted in 2001 showed overwhelming support for building
a new church, hall, and school.
Who is the Master Plan Committee and what are they doing?
A series of well-attended town hall meetings were held in early 2002
to discuss and provide valuable feedback on ideas for the proposed
church and school. At the final workshop, participants were asked
to nominate fellow parishioners to serve on planning committees. The
Master Plan Committee is comprised of dozens of parishioners serving
on four sub-committees: Building, School, Capital Campaign, and Communications.
The Building Committee has been meeting monthly since 2003. Through
competitive, qualifications-based processes, they have selected the
project team (click on ‘The Team’ in the left menu). Once
the team was formed and design work began they have provided direction
and feedback to the designers on the proposed building and site. An
interiors sub-committee was also formed to focus on the interior finishes
included in the design. The
School Committee has defined a number of options based on a recently
completed Diocesan Demographics Study. With the Building Committee,
they have determined the approximate requirements for K through
6 and K through 8 scenarios. As the cost estimates were completed
from the design documents, it was evident that the school portion
was not going to be able to be built at the same time as the nave
and parish hall. However, the architects were tasked with designing
the building and site with the addition of the school in mind.
The Capital Campaign Committee hired a fundraising consultant in
2003, CCS Fundraising. They worked with the consultant to conduct
the capital campaign from Winter 2003 to Spring 2004 The capital
campaign was very successful, surpassing the $3 million goal by
ten percent.
Where will the new church be located?
A beautiful 12.5 acre site (click here to see
the location map), large enough to construct a new church, hall,
and school has been donated to the parish. An additional 2.5 acres
may be acquired to give the parish control of nearby property. The
site is located across the Glenn Highway, behind the 'Storage Bin'.
What will the new church be
like?
A series of town hall meetings were held in early 2002 to solicit
input from parishioners. The results of these meetings were summarized
in a Project Mission Narrative (included in Architects Corner).
This document was the basis from which the designers created their
initial concepts In November 2003, the architects presented several
elevations at a Town Hall meeting and received feedback on which
concept to further develop. The design process continued in a collaborative
fashion with the Building Committee and review comments from the
Parish. See the Architect’s Corner for the latest design.
When will the new Church be ready?
Rough grading of the site started in the summer of 2004. Construction
got into full swing during the summer of 2005 and will continue
through the winter. Completion is anticipated to be late fall 2006
.
What will happen to the existing church?
During the Town Hall meeting in November, 2003, there was a general
consensus that the parish pursue the highest return on the existing
property to help secure the financial realization of the new building
program. Since that time, several options have been pursued including
conversion to a community center. Many of us have invested blood,
sweat, and tears in the church and like a family home, leaving will
not be easy. We will try to find a use that is fitting with the
dedication and sacrifice by so many who built and supported it over
the years.
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