Legacy Project Update - December 2012

The Construction

The Parish House – We'll be ready for SPARKLES!

Ledgewood Construction have pulled out all the stops and have assured us that the Mother Window will be reinstalled in the church and that the Auditorium, with its new bathrooms, the connecting hallway and the Guild Room will be in presentable order for the Sparkles fair on December 8^th and the Sparkles Concert reception on December 16^th. Whew! All those paint cans and scaffolds will be gone in time to decorate and welcome the community through our doors for their (and possibly your!) first close looks at this construction project. Given the expected traffic during SPARKLES and Christmas weeks, we are opting to defer all flooring work in the Auditorium until January 2013. As such, Father Nathan's office will remain in the trailer adjacent to the administration trailer throughout December.

In the meantime, Ledgewood continues working through its "punch list" for Guiding Ray spaces where our children are happily ensconced in their safe, healthy and beautiful new spaces. Work will move ahead in earnest in December on the Guiding Ray "Arts and Crafts" and the Choir rehearsal rooms and the hallways running the length of the Parish House, upstairs and downstairs.

Although there have been some bumps in the scheduling road, Ledgewood is still forecasting a March 2013 finish to this construction project—on schedule given the fact that we started a month later than we had hoped. Let us keep them in our prayers! Exterior painting and landscaping work will then resume as soon as weather permits in the spring.

The Campaign continues and, thanks to some recent pledges, the gap has shrunk to approximately $120,000. We are heading in the right direction! With each of us doing what we can, we will close the remaining gap! Remember, pledges can be paid over 5 years—you decide both the level and the schedule of payment that is good for your circumstances. If you have not yet formalized your pledge, please consider joining the rest of your S. Mary's family in building our future!

Jennifer Gregg, Dick Miller and David Robinson

Legacy Project Update

Legacy Project                                                            Jennifer Gregg, Dick Miller, David Robinson

A race with Mother Nature and Parish Life

    Ledgewood has been pulling out all the stops during the last two weeks, juggling the arrival of materiel and the weather in order to ensure that the Guiding Ray can vacate the rectory and take up residence in the Parish House on schedule.  This has been a nail-biter as the delivery of  windows, ceiling tiles, bathroom fixtures and other items met with delay.  But good news:  As of this writing, we are on track!  Specifically, all furniture and supplies will be removed from the rectory and the rectory garage in time for cleaning the week of 29 October.  Work will be completed in time to welcome our Guiding Ray children to safe, dry, healthy and sustainable spaces when they begin their new "Noah and the Ark" rotation  on 11 November!   Whew!

    Work on the auditorium has also taken a giant leap forward with the installation of the spectacular windows overlooking the Old Churchyard on the east end of the room.  When next you are at church on Sunday, do visit, as this has completely transformed this room with an infusion of light and beauty.  HOWEVER, we must prohibit all week-day and evening public access to the auditorium in November.  We have reluctantly taken this decision both to ensure safety and construction efficiency.  As such, for the month of November, Father Nathan's temporary office will be in the trailer currently occupied by Ledgewood, adjacent to the Parish Administration office trailer.  

    At the same time, Ledgewood has been working steadily to get the new administrative/chapel wing under roof and protected from the elements; exterior painting of the rectory is complete and painting of the Parish House has begun between the raindrops; the connecting hallway between the auditorium and the new wing is underway;  the Old Churchyard boxwood plantings are in; the Bradford pears in the burial garden have been thinned and the pathway laid; new trees have been planted in St. Mary's Woods.  It's all coming together, with visible progress each day!                                              

    The Campaign continues as we work to close the approximate $130,000 funding gap.  Many thanks to the several parishioners from whom we have received pledges of support during the last few weeks!  With each of us doing what we can, we will close this gap!   Remember, pledges can be paid over 5 years—you decide the schedule of payment that is good for your circumstances. 

     We have learned that there is some confusion regarding "expected" pledge levels.   There is NO minimum pledge or gift expectation.   Rather, we reiterate our hope that each and every parishioner will feel moved to participate, giving as best as each can, according to one's  circumstances.  Only YOU know what that level is.  We again encourage all to join the rest of your S. Mary's family in building our future!  

    The Financing continues to be stable, with over half of the total pledges already in hand.  Those of you who have pledged will soon be receiving updated contribution statements.  Please read these carefully to ensure accuracy; they will also indicate whether you are ahead or behind in your payments.  If you ahead, THANK YOU—you are saving S. Mary's financing charges!!  If you are behind and need to adjust your payment schedule, please just contact the office.     

 

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Legacy Project Update - Topping Off!

   About 20 stalwart parishioners braved the weather to watch the final struts placed on the administrative/chapel wing...no small feat for Ledgewood Construction as the elements made for a risky work environment.  But they were undaunted!  Within an hour, the final strut was installed and Legacy Building Project co-chair Dick Miller, along with an assistant, placed a  tree on the top-most beam!  Check out the photos! 

    The practice of "topping off" or  "topping out" a new building can be traced to the ancient Scandinavian religious practice of placing a tree on the top of a new building to appease the tree-dwelling spirits of their ancestors that had been displaced. The practice migrated to England with Scandinavian immigrants and took root (no pun intended...)  there.  Today, a "topping off" ceremony is often held to commemorate this milestone in the construction of a building.  And this is some milestone!! 
--

Jennifer A. Gregg

(207) 781-2665

(207) 650-1462 (c)

Construction Update

 

Follow this link: http://smaryave.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/stmarys-0912.pdf

Legacy Project Update - October 2012

 

  Legacy Project Update   ­

October 2012                                              

Jennifer Gregg, Dick Miller, David Robinson

 

Thanks to all for your patience and flexibility!

  

As all parishioners are too well aware, the Parish House is topsy-turvy with construction continuing at an exhausting pace upstairs, downstairs, around, under and above as we seek to have Guiding Ray, Auditorium, Guild Room, Choir and storage  space ready for occupancy and use on 1 November!  Ledgewood has been keeping the building stunningly clean and organized throughout; still, it is a construction site and that means noise and dust and, with the coming of Fall, chill.  During this time, the choir is rehearsing in the church; Guiding Ray is meeting in the Rectory; A/A and Alanon are holding some meetings in the church; The Boy Singers of Maine are rehearsing at an alternative site in September and October.  Thank you to ALL for your patience, your understanding and flexibility as we make every effort to sustain the pace of S. Mary’s programs during this construction period. .

   

Next up in construction:  Installing insulation under the floor of the church; focusing on Guiding Ray spaces in the Parish House and framing of the administrative/chapel wing.  Check Weekly News alerts for a “Topping Off” Celebration in early October:  Come for refreshments and watch the placement of the highest beam on this very special new wing!  Rectory repairs and upgrades have been completed; interior painting is underway and exterior painting will be completed in October.

   

Dick (and Beth!) Miller will be taking a well deserved vacation during the second half of October.  As many know, Dick has been spending 8-12  hours a day  at S. Mary’s supervising the construction and undertaking many repairs and upgrades himself.  We wish the Millers a relaxing and restorative two weeks away and we are blessed to have George Barrett fill in during Dick’s absence. 

 

And the Legacy Campaign – Let's finish this up!

  

We're Baaaacccckkkkk!  The Legacy Campaign Cabinet took a well-deserved summer break....also offering a well-deserved break for the Parish!  We are now refreshed and reinvigorated and ready to make the final push to close the approximately $130,000 funding gap remaining to fully fund this incredible project.  If that sounds like a large gap to you, just remember that the parish has raised over $2.8million already!  So let's take this parish the rest of the way!   There are still several parishioners who have verbally indicated their intention to give, and we naturally assume that many have been waiting to see the project begin and proceed before committing.  We look forward to hearing from and meeting with you all!

 

Wouldn't it be wonderful to welcome Father Ferrell having completed this campaign?  And do so as we have always done:  Coming together with each and every one of us giving according to our means, each and every one of us being a part of S. Mary’s future!    Let's do it! 

 

Legacy Project Update - September 2012

  Legacy Project Update   ­

September 2012                                              

Jennifer Gregg, Dick Miller, David Robinson

The Seen and the Unseen!

    

The Parish House construction progresses daily—some of which is obvious, much of which is not.  The progress on the new administrative/chapel wing is most apparent, with the foundation having been poured—walls come next!  Even there, however, much of the critical work goes  largely unnoticed.  The “water-proofing” of the elevator pit is extensive; this same waterproofing will extend throughout this wing, below what will become the basement.  Likewise, the water-diversion efforts surrounding the rest of the Parish House have begunand the receptacle for runoff, the dry detention basin, is nearing completion.   While not as exciting to watch, these sophisticated  measures will ensure healthy and dry spaces for our children, our choir and other users of this space.

   

 In the church, work on the crypt is nearly complete.  Less visible:  The heating ducts have been successfully cleaned, removing over an inch of “crud” coating the ducts.  Next up:  insulating under the flooring of the church.  Again, work such as this goes unnoticed, but is designed to improve energy efficiency and the air quality of this sacred space. 

     

Similar work is scheduled to begin immediately in the Rectory:  Water-diversion and installation of individual controls on the radiators will come first.  The Buildings and Grounds committee will also be undertaking some cosmetic upgrades in anticipation of occupancy by the Ferrells. 

     

Exterior paint choices have been made, and “the brown has it!”  After considerable deliberation by the Building and Design Committee (thank you especially to Hannah Russell, Onnie Hastings, Beth Shaw and Janet Corey) and the 40 some parishioners who shared their views on this, we are opting to keep the current color of the Parish House and Rectory.   Thankk you all for your thoughtful and collegial work on this.

   

 Guided Tours on Second and Fourth Fridays!

  

A reminder that all parishioners of all ages are invited to join Dick Miller for guided tours of the construction site on the second and fourth Fridays of each month at 4pm.  Not only will you view all of the progress first-hand, but you will learn all about the construction process from our accomplished chair of the Building Committee, a retired contractor himself! 

The Financing

   

On behalf of St. Mary's, Senior Warden Hugh Smith signed construction loan documents with Norway Savings Bank in August.  This loan will cover construction expenditures as we await the receipt of payments on existing pledges over the next 4 years.    Monies will be borrowed on an as-needed basis. 

To keep our borrowing costs at a minimum, we ask all parishioners to keep current with their pledge commitments; clearly, if you find yourself in a position to pay your pledge ahead of schedule, all the better!!  Thank you!

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Follow this link for this month's construction update:

http://smaryave.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/stmarys-construction-update-0812.pdf

Construction Updates! Old Office Wing Demolition - Tuesday, 9am!! Come Watch!

The Construction

Children of all ages bid fond farewell to the old administrative wing in July, painting remembrances and good

wishes to spaces that had been filled with so much love, prayer, and laughter for decades. (View additional photos on the website, www.smary.org and our Facebook site.) Demolition of that wing met with a short delay due to the discoveryof additional asbestos insulation on the heating pipes buried in the ceiling that must now be abated before taking this wing down. Demolition is scheduled for Tuesday, July 31st at 9am. Consider joining your fellow parishioners for coffee and snacks to watch from a safe distance! In the interim, our contractor started making the cuts between the old office wing and the remaining Parish House structure; the space hasthus been cordoned off for safety reasons.

The “Big Blast” has begun, literally, in the space next to the parish house, thanks to Chase Excavation and McGoldrick blasting company. This excavation has been a sight to behold--a cavernous hole that will become the foundation for the new administrative wing and chapel has quickly appeared! It is anticipated that we will begin seeing work on the “footing” for this wing by the end of July. Sadly, we lost some beloved trees to make room for this foundation; we are attempting to transplant the mature rhododendrons from that area to spaces between the churchyard and the rectory.

In the church, the “Mother Window” is being prepared for removal and refurbishment/repair. It is likely we will be without this glorious window for about three months while the Phoenix Studio completes the work on the stained glass. Work continues in the crypt: The door to the crypt has been refurbished, with locks repaired (thank you Dick Miller, for your loving work!)

Other construction “highlights” include the preparation of the “dry detention basin” that will receive water run-off from the campus (check out the location and work on this element on the eastern side of the property, abutting Pine Grove Cemetery.)

Please Visit - But With Care!

Throughout, the campus remains a “hard hat” area on week-days, and we request that, if able, parishioners park along Foreside Road from Monday-Friday and walk onto the campus. But do please visit! There is an exciting buzz of activity and exciting changes are happening daily. We are hoping to add guided tours by Dick Miller in August to coincide with Souper Suppers on the second and fourth Fridays of each month—enjoy a tour at 4pm followed by supper at 5pm in the auditorium. Stay tuned for further details on this.

The Financing

At a special meeting on July 19th, the Vestry approved unanimously a motion to borrow up to $1,200,000 as a construction loan from Norway Savings Bank. This loan is to cover construction expenditures as we await the receipt of payments on existing pledges over the next 4 years. The Vestry had agreed earlier to accept a floating interest rate (currently 4 percent) ; the loan can be modified to a fixed rate without penalty at a later date if deemed desirable. Monies will be borrowed on an as-needed basis.

To keep our borrowing costs at a minimum, we ask all parishioners to keep current with their pledge commitments; clearly, if you find yourself in a position to pay your pledge ahead of schedule,all the better!! Thank you!

The Legacy Project - June 2012

CELEBRATION!

The sun shone brightly , the sky a cloudless blue, one of those quintessential early summer days in Maine on June 24^th. . S. Mary's parishioners, friends and neighbors began streaming onto the campus early to celebrate the Ceremonial Groundbreaking for the Legacy Project; the excitement of anticipation was palpable as many found seats and others mingled over the ubiquitous S. Mary's "groaning table" laden with breakfast delights.

Senior Warden Hugh Smith led the festivities, honoring the members of Legacy campaign, building and finance committees who have been managing this effort over the last three years, as well as our wonderful community Legacy Project partners: Demont Associates, Scott Simons Architects, Ledgewood Construction, Attorneys from Pierce Atwood, LLP and Jensen, Baird, Gardiner and Henry, and our bankers, Norway Savings Bank. Hugh expressed the gratitude of the Vestry and his own personal pride that "our parish is filled with people who are not satisfied with the status quo and take the time time to imagine the future and plan for it—and that we work well together as a family, build consensus and focus on what matters."

Legacy Campaign Co-Chair Jennifer Gregg briefly summarized the three year experience and honored the donors. Noting that while there had been times when we all had questioned the wisdom of and our ability to proceed with this very substantial capital campaign—particularly in light of the economic recession followed by the devastating loss of Father James-- we had concluded that we should move ahead: " We prayed. And understood that, of coursewe will go on: We knew then just as we know now all about the strength of this parish. We know that we are a family--yes, a bit dysfunctional from time to time, a family that struggles on occasion, but a family that, at the end of the day, comes together, comes home and finds its strength in This Place. A family that wants to ensure that others will have This Place to come home to for years to come." With thanks to the donors who have made this project a reality, the "first proof" of the Legacy Donor Plaque was unveiled. The plaque will remain on display, for amendments and additions, in the Guild Room throughout construction.

Canon Vicki Wiederkehr brought greetings from Bishop Lane who reminded us that "a building project in the church is always a sign of vitality and hope. It takes a robust community with strong commitments...Such a community also has a vision of its future and a notion about what is needed to meet that future." Bishop Lane commended S. Mary's "vision of a facility that will both nurture and strength your members and serve the larger community," noting that "service to the community beyond the walls is a growing edge for St. Mary's and you have shown yourselves to be passionate about reaching beyond yourselves."

Our beloved S. Mary's Choir offered a beautiful and very moving rendition of Anton Bruckner's 'Locus iste' ("This Place") and Pastor Barb led us in prayer as we prepared ourselves for the truly momentous beginning of this long-awaited construction.

The fun began in earnest with Ledgewood's Pete Pelletier distribution of hardhats to clergy, parish, campaign and building committee leadership. Pastor Barb, Deacon Christine, Vicki Wiederkehr, Hugh Smith and Carrie McIntosh led the way by putting the first shovels to ground, followed by a sea of little ones--all wearing yellow Ledgewood "hardhats," then our wisest parishioners (those 80 years and older!), the choir and other parish leadership, Legacy committees and community partners.

Hugh Smith closed this wonderful event, calling on Becky Pride for final words. On behalf of the parish, Becky presented Jennifer Gregg with flowers, a shovel (the handle of which had been signed by scores of parishioners) and shared thanks for her leadership of this effort. For her part, Jennifer, taken totally unawares, was astounded and, for once, blessedly speechless!

Many thanks to all who participated, all contributing to making it so very special. Special thanks to our official photographer, Shelly Maher, who captured the entire occasion on film. In addition to the photos included in this AVE, check out the website at www.smary.org or  Saint Mary Facebook site for more photo-coverage of the day!