HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Investigation & Findings of the St. Paul’s Planning Sub-Committee

In November of 2000, at the request of Fr. Jerry, the Pastoral Council commissioned a body to investigate the long term needs of the school and the church.  That body was comprised of ten members of the community and was known as the Planning Sub-Committee.  The body served at the pleasure of the Pastoral Council and met for roughly 18 months, at the conclusion of which, it submitted its findings and opinions to the Pastoral Council for consideration and recommendation to the pastor.

After determining the scope of its investigation, the Planning Sub-Committee assessed the parish’s assets in property and cash, its short-term and long-term needs, guidelines set forth by the diocese, and other pertinent information and arrived at four possibilities for coping with the parish’s future growth.  These possibilities were presented to the parish as a whole during the Sunday masses in April, 2001.  The responses were:

1.      Do nothing (7%);

2.      Acquire adjacent property(ies) and build at our present location (27.4%);

3.      Maintain the existing facilities and building a new church elsewhere (38%);

4.      Build a new church and school at a different location and sell the existing property (27.6%).

From the community’s response it was clear that something must be done, doing nothing was not a favored option.  However, of the remaining three possibilities, no single option was clearly preferred.  The Planning Sub-Committee continued to meet to discuss and assess the various possibilities.  Issues such as the time and money needed to acquire neighboring properties, the possibility of closing city streets that bordered the existing property, the requirements of the diocese for new school buildings, and others were discussed. 

The body invited experts from the diocese to provide input on diocesan guidelines.  They also welcomed other parish leaders who had faced similar challenges to share their insight.  After considering the many various factors, the Planning Sub-Committee determined that the only reasonable, cost-effective, and timely solution was to build a new church and school at a different location and sell the present facility.  This decision seemed to make the most sense in light of the parish’s existing ownership of the nearby Roosevelt property.