St. Mary’s Huntley is breaking ground on its new parish center

 

The Observer reports that Apostolic Administration, Thomas Doran is scheduled this month to break ground on St. Mary’s new parish center and adoration chapel.

The following previous postings are the only available records regarding this multi-million dollar project.   It appears that original $5,000,000 project is now costing $7,000,000 and the project is breaking ground based upon a CAMPAIGN GOAL OF $5,0000,000.

, September 21, 2011

Update on Huntley Catholic Parish building drive

This was previously posted at: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/09/huntley-church-plans-big-expansion.html Appears to be some changes have occurred –cost was $5 million now $7 million. Now appears that fund raising will not fund all of the project.

After only 10 years, St. Mary Catholic Church in Huntley already has outgrown its building and is seeking new space in which to grow its ministry.

The church hopes to build a 32,567-square-foot, single-story addition that would include a 600-person parish hall, a small chapel, office space, a full kitchen and 10 rooms that could be split into 17 meeting rooms, said Monsignor Steve Knox, the church’s pastor since 2004.

Church leaders brought the project to the Huntley village board’s committee of the whole last week and the body sent it to the planning and zoning commission for future review.

The project, designed by Barrington-based Ruck Pate Architecture, is expected to cost $7 million. The church plans to raise a large chunk of the money among its parishioners before applying for a loan, Knox said.

After only 10 years, St. Mary Catholic Church in Huntley already has outgrown its building and is seeking new space in which to grow its ministry.

The church hopes to build a 32,567-square-foot, single-story addition that would include a 600-person parish hall, a small chapel, office space, a full kitchen and 10 rooms that could be split into 17 meeting rooms, said Monsignor Steve Knox, the church’s pastor since 2004.

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Posted by Boone County Catholics at 10:03 PM 0 comments

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Huntley church plans big expansion

It appears that the Zoning Department at the City of Huntley does not allow the same parking spaces to be counted both for a parish center and a church.

Huntley church plans big expansion

By Jeanie Mayer For The Courier-News September 16, 2011 12:18PM

HUNTLEY — The village board heard details of a proposed major addition to St. Mary Catholic Church, 10307 Dundee Road.

Staff outlined the parish’s plan to build a 32,567-square-foot addition alongside the church to house classrooms for religious education, offices and meeting space. The proposal includes a covered carport, up to 17 meeting rooms and a professional kitchen.

The board indicated it was pleased overall with the proposed addition, but balked at the parish’s request to reduce the number of additional parking spaces the new building would require under village ordinance. The ordinance calls for an additional 260 parking spaces under the proposed plans. St. Mary’s is asking that it only be required to put in 97 more parking spaces.

“We do not at all envision a dual use where the parish hall is being used when the sanctuary is full,” a parish representative said.

Trustee Harry Leopold said he liked the plan, but was concerned with the possible shortage of parking spaces if the board allowed the parish relief of that many spaces.

“It is a real nice addition to build, and needed. I am concerned about the relief (of parking spaces). I would like to see examples of additional parking,” he said.

The above is taken from: http://couriernews.suntimes.com/7693022-417/huntley-church-plans-big-expansion.html

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The pictures and graphs shown below are from St. Mary’s Parish website: http://www.stmaryhuntley.org/

Below is a statement from the Pastor in this week’s bulletin (9-18-2011). Over $1.5 million of the $5 million drive has been pledged.

 

St. Mary’s (Huntley) gives weekly updates of its campaign and answers different questions each week

The following are taken from St. Mary’s weekly bulletins which are available at:

http://seekandfind.com/directory/st.-mary-church_672.html

What is Eucharistic Adoration Chapel?

Pledging and confidentiality.

The stage and religious education building.

The degree of parish participation.

Proposed addition/adoration chapel.

St. Mary Church
Huntley, Illinois
Statement of Need
St. Mary Parish has a wonderful history spanning over 140 years of dedicated service to the Lord
and to the people we serve. Our parish has a reputation for being welcoming, generous, and
faith-filled.
Over the decades, we have grown from a small worshipping community to our current vibrant
parish of approximately 5,200 households. Over 50 ministries and/or organizations enrich our
parish life and provide numerous ways for parishioners to share their talents and serve one
another and the larger community. The small group of individuals who met in John Kelley’s
blacksmith shop in 1870 to discuss the organization of our first church would surely be
astonished and proud of today’s church and parish.
Facilities are important to any vibrant faith community. They provide the means for us to live
our mission and to build a faith community in the name of Jesus. Over 15 years ago, our parish
of only 350 households provided the enthusiasm and energy to lay the foundation for the
building of our current beautiful church. They had the vision to anticipate the potential growth
in our area and the urgency to design and build a new church that would draw people. They
looked upon this responsibility as an opportunity, not a challenge.
Today we have another opportunity to realize. Currently we do not have ample space for the
large number of activities in our parish. We rent classrooms from Marlowe Middle School in
Huntley for our Religious Education Program with its 1,300 students. The annual cost of rentals
is approximately $50,000. We have a small number of meeting rooms that are inadequate to
accommodate our ministries and programs. Without a parish hall and kitchen we are unable to
have pancake breakfasts, dinners, funeral luncheons or other large ministry gatherings to build
up our community.
This Parish Ministry Center is as important to parish life today as was the church a decade ago.
It will give us a place to gather, not just for liturgies on the weekends, but throughout the week –
because “church” is not just a weekend experience. We need space to gather daily as a faith
community – space for activities such as religious education, youth ministry, social events for all
age groups, retreats, community outreach, service programs, meetings and parish offices for
administration.
Parishioners have been involved throughout the planning of the Parish Ministry Center. Town
Hall Meetings were held last spring and again in February. The Building Committee sought
input through a parish survey. Our Parish and Finance Councils have been involved in the
discernment of our direction, as has the parish staff. A feasibility study was conducted May
2011. Fr. Steve continues to provide updates in the bulletin to keep the parish informed,
including presenting the building design to parishioners in June.
The proposed one-story Parish Ministry Center will be approximately 32,000 square feet. The
facility will be designed to complement the exterior of our church, with interior space configured
to meet the practical demands of our Religious Education Program, our meeting and gathering
requirements and parish ministries. We’ll have ample storage space and large restrooms that are
handicapped accessible. We’re also examining ways to improve our parking lot design and the
flow of traffic.
The Parish Ministry Center will house 17 classrooms which will be designed for multipurpose
usage. The staff offices that are currently in the lower level underneath the Gathering Area will
become meeting rooms and additional religious education classrooms. The Parish Hall will be
able to seat up to 600 people at tables and will have partitions to allow for smaller gatherings.
We’ll also add a number of staff offices.
A small Eucharistic Adoration Chapel will be located in the Parish Ministry Center. We’ll
continue to have the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle in the church; and, in addition, in the
new Eucharistic Adoration Chapel. With all the liturgies, funerals, weddings, rehearsals, and
activity in our large church, having a small prayer chapel devoted to Eucharistic Adoration will
be a real blessing for our parish because people will always have a place to go for quiet prayer.
The youth ministry room will be built to be “youth friendly” and provide a space that our parish
youth can call their own. In order to make this area multi-purpose, partitions will allow it to be
used as a place for religious education classes during our more crowded sessions.
What is the ultimate goal of this project? The goal is to create more ministry space so that
parishioners can come together to grow in their relationship with God, to experience a Christcentered
community, and to be strengthened in faith and love to go forth as disciples of the Lord
in the world.
This project is vital to our parish. It will greatly enhance our beautiful church and fulfill
worship, educational, fellowship, ministry, and meeting requirements for an active, vibrant
parish. With God’s help and your prayers, volunteerism and financial support, we can make this
happen and fulfill our campaign theme of Building Community Together!