St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church -- Building Update January 2001

JANUARY 20, 2001 Building Update
Dan Thompson

This is the third up date that we have had concerning the new or new Parish Multi-Celebrational Building, the first was in June, the second in October. The construction effort is now at a point where I think it is time to bring you up to date.

February 28, 2001 is Ash Wednesday. And I’m happy to report that it will either be the very last time we meet in this Temporary Parish Home of St. John’s or (and I hope I’m not going out on a line here) it will be the very first time that the Parish Family of St. John’s meets in its’ new home at 10300 W Yamato Road. I wish I could tell you for certain today which one it will be ... if I could it would be time for me to buy a Lottery Ticket. As you know, if you ever had a home built, or been involved in any construction project, the last few weeks get pretty hectic. The Contractor has assured me that he will be finished before the end of February but getting final inspections and certificates of occupancy on a date certain is tough to predict, especially five weeks out.

Before I report to you where the construction effort is now, let me review a little bit about the building.

The overall dimensions of the building are 148 ft by 148 ft or 21,904 square feet under roof. The total enclosed area of the building is 14,750 square feet. With 360 lineal feet of 10 foot wide open colonnade around the perimeter that is covered with a 14 foot roof overhang which will be a great place for gathering, and as a covered walk area to the future church building.
There will be assembly seating for 786 persons. Banquet seating for about 350 persons.
There will be six classrooms with capacity for 160 persons with glass viewing windows into the assembly area for overflow seating or parents with small children.
The administration and Sacristy area will have a vestibule, secretarial area, work room. 4 private offices, and storage closets.
There is a kitchen, that when fully equipped will have an automatic dishwasher, commercial electric range, convection oven, freezer, refrigerator, three compartment sink, work tables, coffee and tea makers, etc.

Presently the building is very close to finished.

Drywall finishing and painting is ongoing, the offices and classrooms have the first coat of paint and the assembly area drywall is being finished.
The ceramic tile in the toilet rooms is nearly finished.
As soon as the tile is set in the toilet rooms the plumbing fixtures will be installed.
The lay-in acoustical tile ceiling grid is installed and the ceiling tile will be installed as soon as the painting is finished and the air conditioning is turned on.
Except for the final trim work the electrical, fire alarm, sound system, security and air conditioning, fire sprinkler work is complete.
The base boards are painted and ready to be installed.
The carpeting and vinyl tile is ordered and ready to be installed when the painting is completed.
400 new chairs have been ordered and are set to be delivered on time.

The exterior site work is also progressing:

The exterior stucco work is half done, the SE and NE sides of the building are completed.
On those exterior walls where the stucco has cured, the painting has begun.
The parking areas are finished with the exception of the final layer of asphalt paving, brick pavers at the main entry and grass parking.
The parking lot light poles and fixtures are installed and the electrical wiring is well on the way.
On Monday the 22nd the construction trailer, will be taken off site and the superintendent will have moved his office into the building,
On Monday the 22nd the FPL transformer will be energized and the county inspector has allowed the building power to be turned on.
On Tuesday the 23rd the permanent irrigation well will be drilled and the irrigation system will begin to be installed.
The site looks bare now but within two to three weeks the contractor will plant: a variety of 256 trees 2,137 shrubs and plants and plant 6 acres with bahia and St. Augustine sod and Bahia seed.
The foundation for our sign at the main entrance was started on Saturday the 20th.
The entry drives, Yamato Road turn lane and curbing is all under way and should be finished shortly.

As you know we issued the plans for bid in October of 1999, a contractor was selected and permit applied for the first part of November 1999. The master permit was finally issued on April 18, 2000. It was two years ago this month that we started “Our Faith, Our Future” capital improvement campaign for pledges to support the construction of our first building. That campaign exceeded our goal for pledge support. Soon we will be in our new Parish home thanks to your support, help and prayers.