Thank you to everyone who made this renovation happen! What a beautiful church we have!
Category Archives: Church Remodel Update
Flooring Project Update
Flooring Project Update
The project continues to move along on schedule and within budget. By the time you read this, the carpet should have been delivered with installation to begin this week. The sacristy wood floors have been refinished and restoring the Sanctuary terrazzo/marble flooring is nearing completion. Also this week, window panels are being installed in the sacristy doors and confessional to comply with diocesan VIRTUS program requirements for Protecting God’s Children. If everything continues to go well, we should be back in our beautiful church for Masses on Labor Day Weekend. Many thanks to all of the volunteers working behind the scenes taking care of the little details to make the project run smooth. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me. Have a Blessed Week! Deacon John
Flooring Project update
Our church flooring project is off to a great start! The pews, old flooring, and wood platforms have been removed. Installation of the subfloor in the Nave will wrap up this week. The carpeting is on order and should be delivered the week of August 6th.
With the platforms removed, the original Sanctuary terrazzo/marble mosaic floor and communion rail kneeler step were revealed. Both are in very good condition. The restoration contractor inspected the floor and will be able to restore the terrazzo/marble mosaic as originally planned. Although some cracking in the floor may be visible after restoration, it will blend in as part of a century-plus old floor after he finishes cleaning, repairs, and polishing the floor.
There were 2 unexpected findings when the old flooring was removed. In the Narthex (main entry), asbestos was found in the adhesive used to glue the carpeting to the wood flooring. In the main Sacristy, adhesive was also used to glue the carpet to the wood flooring, however, it was tested and found not to be asbestos. Asbestos abatement was completed without impacting the schedule.
In addition to the flooring work, removal and restoring the main Sacristy cabinetry is underway. The layout for reinstalling the pews was also finalized and approved by the flooring committee. The new arrangement will make some accommodations for handicap seating and wheelchair locations, provide more space between the communion rail and front pew, widen the pew spacing to 34 inches, and provide an assembly area in the back of the church which can also be used to place folding chairs when needed. The total seating capacity of the church will remain unchanged. A copy of the new pew arrangement drawing will be posted within the next few days on the hall door leading upstairs to the church. As a side note, pews not used in the new arrangement will be placed in storage.
The project is proceeding on schedule and within budget. If all continues to go reasonably well, we hope to be back in the church on Labor Day weekend. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me. Thank you and may God continue to bless our parish!!
Thank you Jan Fisher for another great video!!
Flooring project update
The week of July 2 began our flooring project. The altar was moved down to the parish hall.
On Friday, July 6, they began pew removal.
On Monday, July 9, they began carpet removal.
Tuesday, July 10, they began to scrape the layer between the hardwood and carpet.
As well as uncovered the Altar and showed a section of marble that was cleaned.
Thank you to Janet Kingsley-Fisher for providing this 360 video of the renovation!!
Wednesday, July 10 they removal of old flooring in going nicely, and Cliff from Kreighoff Construction is beginning to lay the underlayment for the new floor!
FLOORING PROJECT UPDATE
Good news! Last Friday, we received final approval of our flooring project from the diocese which now allows construction to move forward. After the 11am Mass on July 1, the main level of the church will be closed for about 2 months. During the week of July 2, the Parish Hall will be converted into a liturgical worship space for daily and weekend Masses, Adoration, Confessions, and a dignified environment to come in and pray during the day. The contractor will mobilize on July 9 to begin pew and carpet removal. The project is on schedule and budget for completion by September 15, hopefully by Labor Day if everything goes according to plan. As required by the Witness-to-Hope project process, oversight of the project now falls under the parish Finance Council. This means Finance Council approval is needed for any major decisions or scope changes regarding the project. Progress updates will be provided on a regular basis in the bulletin and our website. More to follow as the final details are worked out. Deacon John
Town Hall Meeting Update!
Thank you to all who came out to the Town Hall meeting to discuss the progress of the flooring replacement project and receive feedback on the carpet selection options. If you were unable to attend and would like to see the presentation, please click Town Hall Meeting Presentation – 04.12.18 (1).
If you have any questions or comments, please direct them to Deacon John at deaconjohn@sacredhearthudson.org.
We’ve created a Parish Remodel Updates Page!
Stay tuned! This page will feature updates of our ongoing projects.
http://sacredhearthudson.org/category/church-remodel-update/
Church Remodel Update 12/17/2017
Two weeks ago, we held a Town Hall meeting in the church to provide an update on the flooring study and present the proposed recommendation before obtaining Fr Joe’s approval. Approximately 30 people attended the meeting. The following is a summary of our discussion:
In developing the proposed recommendation, our goal was to restore and maintain the historical heritage of our beautiful church.
A picture of the Sanctuary area around 1920 which we used to guide our thoughts.
We evaluated a short list of 3 options – restore the original flooring, install new carpet, and install commercial grade vinyl planking. These options were evaluated for cost, historical “fit”, safety, practical use, maintenance, and longevity. At the request of Fr Joe, we considered removing the curved platform in front of communion rail. We reviewed the options with a Jeff Weatherford (our historical consultant) and David Siler (the architect who helped us with the original capital campaign projects), then discussed general contracting with Krieghoff Construction in Adrian who specializes in renovating churches. Because this project affects the worship space and Sanctuary of the church, it will need Bishop Boyea’s approval of the final plans and specifications. So, we had a meeting with a representative from his staff who handles these things for initial input and find out how the approval process works. After doing all that, the committee developed a proposed recommendation for the flooring.
The proposed recommendation is to replace the carpeting in the nave (the pew seating area) with new carpeting. The curved platform would be removed, and the original communion rail doors reinstalled (currently they are stored in the back of the sacristy). For the Sanctuary (the Altar area), we would remove the wood decking and carpet installed in the early 1980s and restore the original flooring. Initial investigation indicates this flooring is either a mosaic marble or terrazzo. For the narthex (the front entry), the old and worn carpeting would be replaced with a commercial grade vinyl planking that has the appearance of wood. The original hardwood flooring would be restored in the sacristies. If our budget does not allow for this work to happen at the same time, it would be performed in the following phases as funding becomes available: Phase 1 – Nave and Narthex, Phase 2 – Sanctuary, Phase 3 – Sacristies.
Other work that must be considered during this project include painting the sacristy, replacing the cornice lighting along the ceiling with and an LED strip, replacing the main Altar used for Mass with one which is a good historical fit and coordinates with the High Altar, and renovating the narthex itself. Currently, the cornice lights are a mixture of about 300 CFL and incandescent bulbs which are difficult to access for replacement (many are burned out). Additional considerations, as budget allows, are renovating the parking lot entrance into the parish hall and installing ADA auto-opening doors, and replacing the carpeting in the stairwells.
After a general discussion of the options and recommendations, a show of hands vote was taken. All except a few people voted to proceed with the proposed recommendation. The next steps for the project are to complete the assessment of the existing floors (including asbestos testing), finalize the recommendation and review it with the diocese, obtain budget estimates, develop conceptual drawings and construction plan, and request Fr Joe’s approval. Looking ahead, over the next 5 months we will be finalizing the details and soliciting contractor bids to award contracts for construction to be completed next summer. We also need to figure out how and where to hold Masses when the church is not available during construction. We identified some options for this, but nothing has been determined at this time.
As always, please feel free to contact any committee member with your questions or concerns. The members are Steve Kope, Jim Friedrich, Cathy Hartley, Bill Beal, Jim Cuthbertson, and myself. We will hold another Town Hall meeting to update you in late January or early February. In the meantime, please watch the bulletin for further developments. Thank you for your time and support of this project! Deacon John