In my last update for the
renovation of the exterior of our church project, which I wrote about in this
column on March 20, I spoke of some of the creative ways that our parish
Finance Council and Building Committee have been working to make sure that we
stay within our budget. That has been very helpful. But on the downside, the
effort to make sure that the numbers we are looking at our realistic and not
overly optimistic has taken more time. To insure that we are dealing with
realistic numbers has taken more checking, more work, and more time.
Therefore our time table has
slipped some. Instead of starting in May, it now looks like construction will
actually commence in August. The construction documents are scheduled to be
completed at the end of May, and now the process for City of Austin permits has
grown from 6 weeks to about 8 to 10 weeks. We do hope it will be faster than
that.
Your patience is much
appreciated. Soon enough our entries will become tunnels as sidewalk bridges
are built over them, and we will have an unavoidable amount of dust. There will be piles of stone on the sidewalk
and the courtyard, scaffolding around the building, and construction equipment
on the street and in the alley. It will all be here soon enough.
Our architects are working hard
to complete the construction documents. Our Finance Council and Building
Committee have done excellent work on keeping on top of the many issues
involved in this project, and the Diocese of Austin is responding quickly in a
timely manner. I am as anxious as anyone to see this project actually begin,
but I know that in a complex project like this, it is much better to be patient
and do it right the first time.
Please keep me, our Building and
Finance Committees, and our entire parish in your prayers.
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