August 16, 2006

DIAMONDS in a NEW SETTING

# 4 Meeting Date: 08 / 16 / ’06 @ 7:00 p.m. in the parish hall with architect, Brad Mollett, who was present ahead of time. Father Hemann opened the meeting at 7:10 with prayer. Others present were John Blanco – Jean Burns – David Forbes – Jill Godbersen [ B ] – Peter Goldsmith – John Kallin – Allan Lansink [ F ] – DarleneAnn Lansink – Dixie Lansink – Ken Newquist – Diane Patera – Jolene Riessen – Mike Stover.

Minutes are on the website ...www.fatherdavid.net... (click on NEW CHURCH) for committee members, parishioners and interested parties to read; minutes from the previous meeting were not read at this meeting.

First order of business was the collection of the Adjacency Matrix papers. Brad took home the papers to check them over and will also collect any delayed ones next week.

Parish Hall...some questioned just how large of a hall we needed, but it was brought to their atten-tion that if a larger hall was available, the events for which it could be used would be increased and that likely Sacred Heart would be able to keep some of the receptions from our weddings at the new parish hall. And for that we need to have a reasonably large capacity. A majority of our funeral dinners are now being held at the Lutheran Fellowship Hall; we need to have a facility at our own church for these; it is only right and proper. So then it came up about how many other functions are held in our hall. Truthfully, not many. Our Soup Supper, KC Spaghetti Meal, etc. are held at the local Community Hall. This place is not user-friendly except for being handicapped-accessible; ALL supplies, equipment and the like need to be hauled from our hall to the downtown one and, once over, all brought back. Our hall is not so great at being user-friendly either plus the fact that it is NOT handicapped-accessible, but at least our supplies are there. It was noted about the fellowship...the crowd (?) isn’t there, but with a new ground-level hall with an easy flow from the church, fellowship could more readily become a pleasant and well-attended occurrence. Stop and think about a breakfast...the aroma of the coffee, the scent of steaming blueberry waffles or the essence of cheese melting on an omelet...wouldn’t you want to stop by the hall after Mass and partake of the breakfast? Another thing about our present hall...it is usually uncomfortably cool; in fact, most the time the chairs are downright cold. No one wants to sit down to enjoy time after Mass trying to keep comfortable. It was said that some of the events now being held once a year could easily be held several times a year; besides that, they would be worthwhile fund-raisers. And there may be times it could be rented out for outside interests, such as the Scouts. So...how big will our new and exciting hall be? Large enough for 40 tables / 320 seating capacity, which is more than twice that of our present structure. Round tables were suggested; they lend themselves better for fellowship. By all means, our current long tables would be kept. Any new chairs purchased should be of the padded stackable variety. The kitchen should be spacious with at least three varieties of sinks: general use, one with disposal and another for beverage-making. Built-ins would include a microwave oven, a warmer and a deep fat fryer. There needs to be adequate stove tops along with plentiful oven space. Nowadays a commercial dish washer is almost a must. Added storage space is a definite requirement; also an extra refrigerator besides the double-door one. An upright freezer was preferred over a chest-type one. When Brad asked if the kitchen would be considered as one for “cooking” or “catering”, the consensus was unanimous to be “COOKING”. There was discussion as to having a space where additional seating would provide us with an extra 10 tables bringing capacity to 400; this area could easily be where large doors would open up to a multi-purpose room. Just thinking of all the possibilities a new and spacious parish hall presents made for genuine interest along with the desire of a not-too-distant build-date. The multi-purpose room (60’ x 30’) translates into an approximate cost of $270,000.00. There was much to discuss in regard to the uses of the multi-purpose room, especially the who...what...when...etcetera of when it would be used and for what purposes. There could be KC meetings, Altar Society meetings, Bible Study, Youth Group, Parish Council, Cluster meetings...name it, and the members just may be using that room. The Parish Hall / Kitchen Committee chairperson has the notes from a couple of members of the group who visited and checked out the design at Immaculate Conception parish at Moville. These members also plan to visit the new addition to St. Joseph’s at Milford and make notes, too, on the parish hall and kitchen area of St. Peter’s in Jefferson, SD. Brad requested that pictures be taken for the remainder of the committees to view and, yes, there will be pictures. These will not be done by the end of the scheduled meetings; nonetheless, they should contain valuable information which can hopefully be incorporated in our new facility.

When the architect brought up the Parish History room again, it was not actually accepted in that context. Rather than a room, which could double for other purposes, it was suggested that we should be thinking of not adding room after room after room. With that in mind, the members suggested that history items be encased along the hallways. Maybe the hall /s would have to be widened a bit, but that would be much less costly than having another room.

Mr. Mollett brought a scaled paper of the parish grounds showing the following structures: present church, the rectory and the religious education center. Unrolled on the double-table setup, those there could easily view the available areas for the new church and the parish hall. Before getting too far along, the space was measured from between the rectory to the school building and it was determined that the 130’ available would not be adequate for proper placement of our new enterprises. Brad had with him cut-out designs of the church-to-be and its accompanying parish hall; these were to-scale and could be moved here, there, behind, beside, in front, wherever. The different placements brought about vigorous and spirited discussions and one could feel the energy flowing. The final locations brought cheers and relief to the group with Father likely being the happiest one of all, commenting that in all the years of envisioning this, he had not come up with this arrangement which evolved from this particular meeting. When the plan is deemed complete, parishioners will be informed. It does allow for a space for the possibility of a down-the-road expansion of the hall. And possibly there will be an area with awning capabilities for the Knights to grill. Once the model is available for viewing, it will be evident that there is no connection to the educational structure. It was determined that even though this particular building is of utmost importance for the religious education of our youth, it was not a high-priority edifice and there was little need of connecting it to any of the new ones. In regard to connecting structures, there is the possibility of having a breezeway from the rectory to the new building units. And what will be where our present church is now... a prayer garden...the details not being fully discussed at this time. There is a lot to be worked out with any breezeway and also the garden. Somewhere in this design, there will be a paved path for funeral processions and for use with a canopy for funerals, delivering handicapped individuals, leaving off mothers and their babes and toddlers, etc. The Bell Tower’s placement is still up for grabs.

Parking was briefly discussed, mentioning that there would have to be adequate spaces for the handicapped. Also that the parking spaces would be at an angle; they would be between 9’ – 10’ in width and 18’ in length.

The architect asked if any funds had been allocated for the parish grounds to be surveyed and if there was a local surveyor. Not so, but there are such persons in the Storm Lake and Sac City areas...a final decision about hiring one was not made at this time.

The subject of structural reports having been made several years ago was brought up. Father had never received copies, but it is hoped that the member with these in his possession will share them with Father and the members of the various committees at the next meeting.