AS I WAS SAYING......
Below you will find Cathal's 'Progress Report' on the planned Church renovations. Time to impart a little information on where we stand now, where we have come from, and in what general direction are we heading!
Where have we come from? The original estimate provided by our engineers on 31st March 1999 for the complete job was £62,000.00. (External work: £19,700; internal: £33,500 contingency: £2,000.00; VAT: £6,800.00). We knew from the outset that there were a number of imponderables in this: for example, we didn't know (and still don't) how much of the plaster will have to be removed from the inside west wall.
The Church Finance Committee, under the leadership of Anthony Ryan, set about raising this money. At the same time, Forthill Cemetery was undergoing a fairly comprehensive restoration, estimated to cost in excess of £20,000.00. The Committee offered to include this outlay in their 'target figure', bringing the estimate now to £82,000.00. We had already applied to Galway Corporation for financial assistance in the Forthill Restoration. The Committee was assembled, consisting of Anthony Ryan (Chairman), Enda Colleran, Cathal Cunningham, John Coyle, Paddy Daly, Tom Hogan, Des Kavanagh, Dick Lyng, Sonny Molloy, Dermot Murray, Liam O'Connell, and John Quinn. A two-pronged fund-raising campaign was planned: £62,000.00 would be raised from the business community, and £20,000.00 through the Sunday congregations. The post-Summer to pre-Christmas period was judged as best suited for the former campaign, and the 10 week pre-Easter period for the latter.
The first formal meeting was held on Wednesday October 6th, 1999. A list of potential donors was drawn and each committee member undertook to approach the selected targets! Meanwhile, the committee would meet on a weekly basis from 6.00pm to 6.30pm to monitor progress. The final meeting of the Finance Committee was held on Wednesday, February 16th at 6.00 in The Bunch of Grapes Pub. For reasons that are now obscure, it proved to be a very long meeting! This phase of the campaign realised £70,522.00. In addition, Galway Corporation donated £12,000.00 towards restoration of Forthill, bringing the total to £82,552.00. The second ten-week envelope-collection phase began at the Sunday Masses on March 5th, and ended on Sunday May 7th. This realised £20,218.00, exceeding the target by £218.00. This brought the total to £102,770.00. The campaign was, by any standards, spectacularly successful.
What has been done to date? The restoration of Forthill, which had begun in Autumn 1997 with a serious clean-up, was completed for the Rededication Ceremony on August 27th, 2000. Enormous work was done there.
Expenses were kept to a minimum through the generosity some business people. For example, the late Paddy Walsh supplied men and machinery for a week free of charge. Coens supplied steel supports for the walls free of charge also. However, despite this, the restoration still cost slightly less than £29,000.00, a not inconsiderable outlay. However, it was well worth the money spent.
Work began on the exterior phase of the Church on November 16th, 1999 and was completed by the end of February, 2000. The following is a break-down of the expenses involved in that phase of the work: Repointing and sealing front wall: £12,150.00: Repointing and sealing West wall: £7,550.00 Special lead flashing to barges: £2,000.00 Stormglazing £2,900.00 Retention Fee £1,383.75 VAT @ 12.5% £3,075.00 Total: £29,058.75 When we add the £29,000.00 for Forthill, we have spent £58,058.75 to date. A total of £50,600.95 remains in the Building Fund bank account. The excess £4,206.05 is due to investing in a long-term investment account.
Where are we now? As you have just learned, we have £50,600.95 in the Building Fund. Originally, we were simply dealing with sealing the outer walls, replastering and repainting the inner walls, replacing the floor covering, and 'touching up' the pews. But we are in a different league now, as Cathal's report on the opposite page will bear out. But please bear in mind that the money collected will still be spent on the purposes for which it was originally collected: the Church will be replastered and repainted; the flooring will be replaced; the seating will be attended to.
What more will be done? That will depend on the 'findings' of the Working Party. And nothing will be done without first consulting the Parish Steering Committee, the Augustinian Community and the Finance Committee.
-D.L.
Parish Steering Committee
Update on Church Renovation, November 2001
The work on sealing of the church walls from the outside, repairing windows, the replacement of perished lead flashings, and so on has been completed to the to the satisfaction of our Engineers. As the next phase of the work approached, it became evident that a comprehensive plan was required to progress the project further.It soon became obvious that preparing this plan would take time and a great deal of discussion and thought. For instance, the new statutory entry arrangements for disabled people and also for buggies would impinge on other aspects such as the relocation of the Statue of Our Lady outside; inspection of the Church floor led to a decision to replace the floor covering, which, of course, affected any decisions regarding the seating as well as choice of colours. It is like a game of Dominoes. Disturb one tile and all will be affected. In addition, the Church is a "Listed Building", so we are not free agents.
A general meeting of the Parishioners and the Friars asked a small Working Group under the direction of Fin Garvey to draw up the plans for the whole project. (Fin is a Choir-member who is an Architect and who also happens to be a Project Development Consultant). This small group meets in Workshop format to examine every aspect of the project. The findings and recommendations of the Group will be communicated regularly to all concerned and a final report will be presented as soon as possible. The group is also charged with monitoring the work in progress and bringing it to a conclusion.
Early on in its deliberations, the extent of the planning involved, together with the necessary consultations with outside interests and others -Engineers, Planning Authority an Taisce etc.- brought home the fact that this would be a longer process than anticipated originally and a date for commencement of the work was set for "after Easter 2002". As can be seen, this is a major under-taking, so offers of help and suggestions are requested from all interested people at any time.
The Group has adopted the following as its Mission Statement:
-Cathal Cunningham (Chairman of the Steering Committee). (091) 564936 (Work), 523496 (Home)
"To Create through Preservation and Enhancement a bright, intimate, sacred, warm, functional yet flexible, prayerful, quiet, accessible, inviting and attractive Church, within the constraints of ensuring value for money through an implementation process to commence after Easter, 2002."
The Working Party is made up of the following: Mary Taylor, Fr. Jack Crean, Cathal Cunningham, Fin Garvey, Fr, Ben O'Brien and Gearoid Lacey.