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Last month, the Divine Mercy Parish building committee wrote a bulletin insert with general information about our upcoming building project. In the past month, planning has continued, and the overall vision and design of the project is becoming clearer. This is indeed an exciting time in the life of our parish!
Q. Refresh me - What are we doing and why are we undertaking this project? We are going to remove the existing rectory at the corner of 8th and Marquette and replace it with a main-level gathering space (think “church hall”) and a lower level Christian Formation center. The interior of the existing church will be remodeled, mainly by bringing the altar and sanctuary closer to the people. We are undertaking this project because our parish set a vision in October 2005 that we would move from four sites to two sites. We know that the Marquette church is going to be our worship site and one of the other sites will be the school site. We also need to move our large Christian Formation program to the worship site so that our young families can celebrate the Eucharist with the rest of our parish family.
Q. Has Divine Mercy talked with the city of South Milwaukee about our plan? Yes, our architects are having conversations with the city of South Milwaukee to make sure that both the city and the parish are pleased with the final design.
Q. What is the timeline for this project? We will have the initial design and concept ready at the end of January 2009. At that time, the initial drawings for the new addition and renovation should be completed and presented to the parish at large. The finance council and parish council are being included in every step of this project so that by the end of February, our parish committees will all be in consensus to recommend this project to the parish at large. At the beginning of March, we hope to be ready to resume the fundraising for our project through the Faith in Our Future capital campaign. If the fundraising is successful, it is possible that we could see construction begin in the Summer of 2009. Construction would take about one year.
Q. What will be on the main floor of the new gathering space addition? On the first floor will be a large, open gathering space that can be divided into smaller rooms when necessary by using moveable walls. There will be a catering kitchen, an elevator, large bathrooms, two of the Christian Formation classrooms (which will also be used for Children’s Liturgy of the Word), and storage.
Q. What will be on the lower level of the new addition? On the lower level will be 6 classrooms for Christian Formation, a smaller room for babysitting, and a large hall for 250 people to sit theater-style. This is to accommodate our Christian Formation program. During the week, the classrooms can be used for parish meetings.
Q. What, will happen to the existing entrance to the church? The interior of the church will be remodeled for two main reasons. First, to connect the new addition to the existing church. Second, to bring the altar and sanctuary closer to the congregation. Because of our new gathering space, we would no longer enter the church through the existing entrance. Rather, you would enter a few feet over towards the corner, walk through the gathering space, and enter the church itself through the back corner. The baptismal font may be placed prominently by the remodeled entrance to the church. The current entrance to the church would be remodeled to include a reconciliation room, a place for the casket at funeral visitations, an usher’s room, and a multi-purpose room for brides, RCIA classes, and members of the deceased’s family at funeral visitations.
Q. Does that mean I will have to walk farther to get into church? Maybe a few extra steps – not many at all. In fact, the new entrance will be closer to the crosswalk at the corner of 8th and Marquette, so depending on where you park, it may be closer for you. The entrance will not have any steps leading up from the sidewalk. This one entrance will be big enough for people arriving and leaving church together.
Q. So what will the remodeled sanctuary look like? We are still working on this area, but the concept right now includes moving the altar closer to the congregation, perhaps to the location of the existing communion rail. A new platform would be built in this location, with a ramp for accessibility. The choir could remain in the same location, but turn 90 degrees to face the new sanctuary area. Some short pews on the opposite side of the altar from the choir (the side closer to the manor) could also be turned 90 degrees.
Q. Won’t this leave the current sanctuary very empty? One idea with the current sanctuary is to make it a space for daily mass. Perhaps by adding some dividing walls, we could make a space in the current sanctuary for daily mass. This could also be an area for private Eucharistic Devotion.
Q. What about the tabernacle, the organ, and the mosaic? The tabernacle will retain a place of honor for our community. We will have a new tabernacle that could be slightly closer to the congregation. The organ will not be moving. We have not had discussions about the mosaic at this point.
Q. Will we cover up the stained glass windows on the east side? No. Every effort is being made to keep natural light flowing into the church from the east through the existing stained glass windows.
Q. If an event such as a pancake breakfast was going on in the gathering space, won’t that sound and smell end up in the worship space? And will I have to walk through a pancake breakfast to get into the church? The gathering space is being planned so that you will not have to walk through tables of people enjoying breakfast in order to get into the worship space. There will be double doors separating the gathering space from the worship space to keep out unwanted sounds and (mostly unwanted) smells.
Q. How big will the kitchen be? Commonly called a catering kitchen, it will be able to host pancake breakfasts and funeral luncheons. It will not be designed to host an event such as a fish fry. We will always have a school kitchen and hall space to accommodate events such as this.
Q. What about funeral visitations? We are designing the new space with funeral visitations in mind. More families are choosing to have both visitation and the funeral at the church. We would also like to provide the option of having more funeral luncheons. The family could greet visitors in the gathering space. Then, visitors paying their respects to the deceased could move into the quieter worship space where the casket would be given a place of respect close to the baptismal font in back.
Q. Are we tearing down the bell tower? No, the bell tower will remain as it is.
Q. What about the existing church basement? The narrow basement room will become a classroom for the Christian Formation program. If you have never seen it, it is the same size as the vestibule. There is no large basement under the nave of the Marquette Avenue church.
Q. What about the other sites? As we begin the fundraising for this building project, we also want to begin deciding what to do with our other sites. After all, the goal of our parish and the purpose of this project is to move us from four sites to two sites. A separate committee will form to discern the appropriate site for our school. This decision will take into account how the building set-up matches our current and future school needs, the overall condition of the buildings, and the “sale-ability” of the other sites. There are financial implications of the school remaining at College Avenue as well as moving to the 16th Avenue site. We hope that our parish offices will also be able to move in the future, leaving us with only two sites.
Q. Who is planning the building and remodeling of our project? The parish council established the Divine Mercy building committee this past Summer. The building committee members are Rich Lussier, Joe Dulka, Cathy Wendt, Judi Backes, Father Bob, Father Steve, Teresa Piraino, Chuck Kendall, and Chris Sepersky. Our architectural team includes Dennis Horbinski, a local liturgical design consultant and Zimmerman Architectural Studios. We also have formed a Divine Mercy Advisory Group, consisting of about 30 parishioners who are in ministries directly impacted by the building and remodeling proposed. The Advisory Group also has parish members who can communicate with the parish at large about the project. If you ever have a question about the project, you may talk to anyone on the building committee or contact Chris Sepersky at 762-6810 or seperskyc@archmil.org Of course, always leave your name so we can respond to you.
Q. When are the upcoming meetings regarding the building project? On January 5, the Advisory Group will meet to look at plans for the worship space and give feedback to the building committee and architectural team. The next parish forums will be held at the end of January. At these forums, the entire project will be presented to the parish at large. All will be welcome to view the plans and give feedback. The dates of these forums are January 27 at 7:00 pm or January 31 at 9:00 am, both in the 16th Avenue hall.
Q. What feedback has the Advisory Group given so far? At the first Advisory Group meeting, the members viewed the initial concept for the new addition and had comments such as “all seems great for our parish needs”, “I like the gathering space and the options of moveable walls”, “brings more parish activities and functions into one area”, “I like that Dennis [our architect] understands the Church of today”, and “at least we are starting.” It was an extremely positive meeting.
Once you begin learning about this building project, you cannot help but get caught up in the excitement and the opportunities that it will bring to our Divine Mercy parish family. We will build up the physical church and we will build up the Church of God’s people, gathered for the first time in one building in South Milwaukee. Please continue to pray for guidance as we continue to build our future together.
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