From the Desk of Father Paul...Renovation Planning Progress Marks 1 Year!

Dear St. Thomas à Becket Parish and Community,

       As we celebrate this season of Advent, we mark a milestone in the planning phase for an updated worship space for reverential prayer and the celebration of the Eucharist, the liturgies, and the sacraments.  After a year of hard work and mindful of the unique architectural features of our church, we recently received approval from the Diocese to proceed with the architect's preparation of construction documents and drawings necessary for building permits, as well as to solicit renovation bids through our general contractor.  This milestone is the furthest progress that our Parish has made through the multiple renovation attempts over the past several years!      

The Renovation Committee is working closely with our Finance Council on how best to finance a project we can all be proud of.  The recent Parish Financial Statement noted that we have $1,200,000 in a "Temporarily Restricted Assets" account, which is solely for the renovations.  St. Thomas à Becket is in a great position at this stage of the process, with 75% of the needed funds already on hand.

       As we’ve shared with the parish, renovation accomplishments over the past year include decisions to:

·   Permanently locate the Sanctuary to focus on the Liturgy and Sacraments, including replacement of the central column with a new bent beam/truss that will peak directly above the new Sanctuary and open up the full width of the area below, giving prominence and focus to our sacred liturgies;

·   Upgrade to permanent seating, including a combination of pews and movable chairs;

·   Provide access for our disabled community to the altar;

·   Retrofit the existing Heating, Ventilation  and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system;

·   Competitively select the Architect (Intec) and General Contractor (Whitener & Jackson);

·   Display conceptual graphics and floor plans for the parish to view in the Narthex; and

·   Solicit, consolidate and forward parishioner comments from website and Narthex to the Committee.

       Our current work includes looking at options for the Sacristy, confessional(s) and Chapel area and continued planning collaboration with the architect, general contractor and the Diocese.

       During this past year, a renovation web page was built to keep you informed of our progress and to capture your input, and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) were recently added to address common questions. Many of you have provided great feedback as we endeavor to fulfill the St. Thomas à Becket community’s long-standing desire to update the Sanctuary space.  I would personally like to thank each of you who have taken to the time to share your thoughts in person and online, as your support has been invaluable.  As always, you can find the latest updates and provide your input via the Renovation Website: www.stbrenovation.com.

       Lastly, please keep the Committee and myself in your prayers as we continue this important work.   My hope is that the work we are undertaking will serve the St. Thomas à Becket community for decades to come.

                                             May God Bless You Always,
                                              Father Paul Grankauskas

Committee Summer Activities!

The Renovation Committee planning continued through the summer months with the following achievements:

• Continued planning collaboration with the diocese

• Conceptual graphic and floor plan displayed in the Narthex

• Consolidated parishioner comments from website and Narthex forwarded to full committee

• General Contractor competitively selected to assist architect planning effort

• Conceptual graphic and floor plan posted on website

• Preliminary renovation cost estimate under review to better determine final renovation scope

Please continue to keep Fr. Paul and the committee in your prayers as we continue with this important project!

In Christ,

The Renovation Committee

HVAC News!

Dear Parishioners,

After careful consideration of Intec’s initial HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) options, your Committee has opted to modernize the existing system to:

1)      More uniformly and efficiently distribute the conditioned air flow throughout the entire worship space, including the newly  positioned Sanctuary

2)      To provide an all-season quieter and more comfortable environment to celebrate the full spectrum of our liturgical services. This will include the elimination of the two ‘silos’ and most of the existing aged and undersized under-floor ducting and hazardous floor registers that currently ring our church.

3)      And importantly, this new system will minimize construction time at a considerable savings in renovation cost

As to overall planning progress, your Committee and Intec are working toward completion of their conceptual Design Development phase by September. Floor layouts will be available this coming weekend and will be on display at the Renovations Board in the narthex. Drop by the Poster Board to stay abreast of the latest Renovations news! And of course, your continued thoughts and comments are welcomed at any time via the Comments section of this website.

Please keep the renovation and the committee in your prayers!

The Renovation Committee

New Decisions Reached!

Dear Parishioners,

The Committee has reached consensus and received Fr. Paul’s approval on several important redesign issues. First, the new roof support structure to accommodate the centrally relocated Sanctuary will be a single bent beam that will span the total wall-to-wall distance and be supported by reinforcing the existing columns at the side walls. This beam system will peak directly above the new Sanctuary and open up the full width of the area below, giving prominence to our sacred liturgies. It will also provide an unobstructed view of the entire Sanctuary from any seat within the worship space.

And secondly, in keeping with the St. Thomas à Becket Mission Statement to “live the Gospel of Jesus by acknowledging the dignity and value of all people” (found on the parish website), we have decided that the renovation would not be complete unless handicap access to the new Sanctuary was provided. This will augment the existing access to the rest of our church and the Parish Center, and will serve to encourage greater participation in our liturgies by those with disabilities. We are encouraged by the support of this recommendation by a number of parishioners and of the enthusiastic approval of Fr. Paul.

In the meantime, we continue to evaluate heating and air conditioning (HVAC) options as our Architect continues to refine the overall layout of the worship space. We will continue to share these progress milestones with the parish as soon as we can. 

Keep watching the renovation board we have now set up in the Narthex for the latest developments!

In Christ,

The Renovation Committee

Ministry Input and Planning!

Dear Parishioners,

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The Committee plan is to solicit input to the renovation from each of the parish ministries. Last week the committee, Intec and the acoustical engineer met with several of our music ministers to discuss their needs and receive their input. We had an informative discussion about how the interior features of a redesigned worship space could affect the perceived quality of speech from the Sanctuary, as well as the music and singing. This has heightened our sensitivity to choose redesign options that best balances the respective needs of each.



Using Intec’s 3-D interactive computer modeling, we are beginning to get an understanding of what the new Sanctuary would look like in relation to the surrounding walls, ceiling, skylight and windows. In this context, we were able to “virtually” see the redesign options such as new two-columns vs. open truss roof support systems; Sanctuary shape, size and placement; the Sanctuary reredos (back wall) shape and tabernacle placement; and the degree of reredos screening of the windows and skylight, as may be seen from various seating positions within the worship space.



We also spent considerable time discussing upgrade and replacement options to our aging and noisy HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system. As you can imagine, there are considerable differences between the two HVAC options as to efficiency, sound level, life-cycle cost and payback, and construction complexity and cost. In any case, we are determined to eliminate the existing ‘silos’ and the unacceptable noise they make, while finding the best long-term solution.



At our upcoming meetings we plan to evaluate Intec’s costing estimates of the Sanctuary, HVAC options, and pew styles. Come back often to share the news of your Renovation Committee’s planning progress. Send us your comments and ideas, simply click on the "Contact the Committee" link on the home page of this site!



Yours in Christ,

The Renovation Committee

Renovation Plans Continue!

Dear Parishioners,

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Since Fr. Paul’s announcement of the selection of Intec as our architect, we have had several meetings with them to discuss our general renovation requirements. The topics included the new sanctuary alignment and enlarged sacristy and confessional(s), as well as general requirements regarding elements such as HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) repairs, seating, flooring, and lighting.



As a result of these first meetings, we have been assured that Intec understands our overall objectives to: 1) achieve a sanctuary redesign that encourages a new respect for the sacred and reverential nature of our worship space, while 2) recognizing our need for a redesign that is fully compatible with the existing open post-and-beam architecture that we all value as a truly unique aspect of our current church structure.



The latest meetings have focused on the review of roof support options to replace the current central column, as well as alternatives to the noisy air handling ‘silos’ which, for years, have provided unwelcome background noise during our liturgies. Early decisions on these issues are critical so that Intec can continue to develop a floor plan schematic with which the Committee can understand and evaluate the functional and cost implications of our general renovation requirements.



As the plans develop, we will post updates from our bi-weekly meetings.  We welcome your comments via the email address available on this website.



Yours in Christ,

The Renovation Committee



Posted on the website and announced from the pulpit on Sunday, May 5, 2013.

Architect Chosen & Approved!

Dear Parishioners,

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As you know, the Parish Renovation Committee has been meeting for several months to discuss plans and designs for the renovation of our worship space.  After hearing presentations by a number of outstanding firms, the committee, with my concurrence, has chosen the INTEC Group as the project architect, based on their experience, capabilities and responsiveness to the needs of our parish.  The choice has been approved by the Diocese and the committee has met with its representatives. The next step will be for INTEC to present preliminary designs. 



Elsewhere in this bulletin you will find a dedicated space where the committee will keep you informed on the progress of the renovation.  You can also refer to our new Renovation Website.  The site has bios of the committee members, information on the architects and their portfolio of past work, and will also have photos chronicling the construction’s progress.  Go to our parish website at www.stbchurch.com, click on News and then Renovation, or go directly to www.stbrenovation.com.

As always, you can email any questions or suggestions directly to the committee at renovations@stbchurch.com.



Again, thank you for you patience and support as this important work goes forward.



Yours in Christ,

Fr. Paul



Printed in the Sunday, April 14, 2013 St. Thomas a Becket Parish Bulletin.

Renovation Committee Formed!

Dear Parishioners,

The original St. Thomas à Becket church building was built as a multi-purpose room in 1972-73 and has served the parish well since. Now, the completion of Findlay Hall provides a multi-purpose space and enables the parish to repair and renovate the existing church building into a worship space devoted to reverential prayer and coming together as one body to celebrate the liturgy and the Eucharist.

As you may recall, Father Tom Ferguson distributed a parish survey in 2006 to solicit your perspectives and input on what changes the parish community wanted to see. More than 300 respondents expressed a strong parish consensus that some repairs and renovation were needed (96%), including pews with kneelers and flooring (98%), a new sound system (84%) and lighting (81%),among other elements.

Consequently, I‘ve established a renovation committee to consider the parish survey inputs, identify and weigh options, and make recommendations to me by June 2013. I will then work through the diocese staff to secure Bishop Loverde’s approval for construction. The committee has already met a number of times this fall and has established a purpose statement and several ground rules that they’ll use to frame their discussions and eventual recommendations. (A representative from the Diocese Office of Planning has participated in the committee’s meetings to confirm that our processes and procedures and policies.)



Biographical information about the Committee members is contained on this website. One of the committee’s key goals is to pursue full transparency with our fellow parishioners regarding our actions and recommendations. Consequently, the committee will periodically address the parish and provide written updates on our work. 

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Thank you for your patience and support as the committee seeks to renovate the church into a sacred worship space for reverential prayer.

May God Bless You Always,
Father Paul



(This letter was printed in the Sunday, January 20, 2013 St. Thomas a Becket parish bulletin.)