Capital Campaign - Order of Events

Описание: Fr. Rudy and Deacon Alex answer another question that have been raised by our parish about the projects being funded by the I Am with You Always Capital Campaign – specifically regarding the order of completion of the projects. We want to make sure that we clearly communicate the why behind the projects and what your support of the campaign means for the future of the parish. If you remember, in the fall of 2023, St. Francis undertook a planning study including surveys of parishioners to help us determine which projects were most important to parishioners. From that study, while nearly all of the items were rated as very important to parishioners, there were several items that rose to the top.

The youth center, family life center and rectory were the top three overall projects, with the Adoration chapel, reception hall, auditorium, and meeting rooms were the order of importance for items within the family life center. From this information, along with estimated fundraising capacity and goals, parish leaders went to architects and planners to devise the most effective and economical plan for construction.

During that process, in concert with consultants and the architects, we determined that there was not enough fundraising capacity to construct both the youth center and the family life center at the same time. Architects went back to the drawing board to modify initial plans for the family life center to convert the second-floor space into dedicated and prioritized spaces for our youth, including a new youth room and ten youth-prioritized meeting rooms. By combining these two initially separate projects, we were able to reduce the overall cost of the project by just over $25 million. The stand-alone youth center is still part of our long-range plan and will be tackled once we finish the family life center and growth requires it.

We also heard from parishioners how important it was to provide adequate housing for our priests AND to take steps to provide more parking close to the church. To that end, architects recommended that our first project to begin be the new rectory, and removal of the existing rectory. This project will provide enough housing for six priests on the campus of St. Francis, as well as provide 96 parking spaces in the space currently occupied by the existing rectory. Our architect and construction consultant recommended it be built first in order to provide relief to parking congestion caused by the construction of the family life center in the middle of campus. Therefore, we are moving forward with this project first.

Our construction consultants advised us that the most cost-effective way to build this facility would be to construct the entire shell of the building, then complete spaces within as funding allowed. At $22 million, we can construct the entire shell of the facility and then complete the common areas, auditorium and meeting spaces on the first floor.

Adoration worship and our youth are so crucial to our parish and spiritual life, and while we hope to be able to raise the funds to complete these projects quickly, we must prioritize the projects based on logistical need. Just this week on Ash Wednesday, there were over 1,000 attendees at services in the Great Hall in space that is not nearly large enough to accommodate that many people. This is why the auditorium space is so crucial to us as we plan for future growth at our parish. This space is critically needed for worship to welcome as many people as possible comfortably. This space is also intended to be multi-purpose as well, with our youth being able to use the space as a teaching theater, for large group meetings and more to accommodate our rapidly growing youth program.

The second phase of the family life center, at $33 million, would include the completion of the highly prioritized youth spaces and meeting rooms on the second floor of the family life center, freeing up more meeting space on the first floor for meeting space for ministries and meetings.

In the third phase at $44 million, we would be able to complete the new banquet hall and the Adoration chapel. While these projects were rated highly, we do currently have space for adoration worship in the chapel, just not as many hours as we would like.

If every one of the nearly 10,000 active households at St. Francis gave just $100 a month over three years, we could raise $36 million – nearly all our $44 million goal. Right now only 8% of our active households have committed to pledge to the campaign, but if we all work together, all of these projects are within reach.

If you have questions about the campaign, please do reach out to parish leadership. Either call the office or email us at [email protected]. To learn more about the campaign and the projects it will fund, AND to make your pledge, visit the campaign website at stfoafrisco.org/IAmWithYouAlways.