The following priorities helped engineers and parish leaders to proposed the new building to be located in the center of our property attached to the school building:
additional large group meeting space for parish ministries,
expanded parish office space for our ministers,
close-in and accessible parking for the church, and
the desire to alleviate the congestion of traffic on our property
What we had to consider also included the fact that After-Mass socials, funeral luncheons, and Mass-time instruction of small children are all activities associated with the celebration of Mass in the church and are all being well-handled by our current handicap accessible Lower Level of the church building. In contrast, the space that we need for the growth of our parish and ministries does not need to be attached to the church building. In fact, after examining the uses of our parish facilities, it was recommended that we separate the offices and the need meeting spaces from the church building in order to opening up our parish property for better and more appropriate traffic and parking.
Additionally the location of the Parish Life Center and its attachment to both the Parish Offices and the School building will greatly enhance its accessibility and its use by more of our ministries, our ministers, and our school and PSR children. Maybe we should think about the new building as a Ministry Center. While the center of our priash life is the celebration of Mass in the church, so much of the work of the church throughout the week can be better located in this new, expanded, handicap accessible, and inter-connected space.
Consider that 1000 people come onto the property every weekday and 3000 on the weekend for worship, meetings, athletics, and school building activities. Currently they are all "aiming" at a very small portion of the parking lot between the church, the school and the gymnasium. This new Ministry Center will spread out that flow of vehicle and pedestrian traffic, allowing everyone to more easily and safely get to their desired destination with clearer way finding views with more comfort and accommodation.
So, our Building Faith Plan not only provides us much needed space inside for the work of ministry, but by its design it will be a much better use of the space on the whole of our 18 acre property. It will add room to grow, needed space for instruction, rooms for meetings, safety in traveling, and beauty from all the sight lines in our neighborhood.