Hello everyone!
A few updates for you:
I am happy to inform everyone that we reached our budgeted amount for our Easter collections. We budgeted $11,000 and after donations finished trickling in over the month of April, our total Easter collection came to $11,138.68. Thank you once again for your generous support of our parish!
You might remember that in the Fall, I mentioned something about installing a new speaker in the Antwerp church, which will sit on top of the confessional. Additionally, we are going to try moving the speakers in the choir loft closer to the organist, with the volume lowered significantly. We finally have the wires run for the new speaker and for the new location of the choir loft speakers. We will be working with the contracted company to get everything installed in the near future. Thanks again to those who donated to make this project happen!
You might also remember that I wrote a bulletin article at the beginning of the year detailing work that needs done on the rectory basement. Because of the total cost of this work, we were required to seek the Bishop’s approval. The diocesan committees that review these requests have given us permission to move forward on this work.
Regarding the work itself that needs to be done on the rectory basement, the goal is to (hopefully permanently) eliminate the moisture problem that is causing the bricks on the interior of the basement to deteriorate. One part of the project will involve excavating down to the foundation, then installing weatherproofing material on the exterior of the basement walls. Tiles will also be installed at the base of the foundation and a couple of lift pumps will also be installed. This work on the exterior of the basement walls will cost $22,500.
The second part of the project will entail demolishing the two non-loadbearing walls in the rectory basement. To eliminate the moisture deterioration on the main load-bearing wall that runs through the center of the basement, the bricks that constitute this wall will be replaced with block. This work on the interior of the basement will cost $39,200. This brings the total cost of the basement project to $61,700. We have already received about $17,000 in donations specifically for this project; thank you to those who have already generously donated to this cause! We were initially thinking that this work could have begun in the Spring, but we now know that it will not begin until after summer.
Blessings,
Fr. Ammanniti
