St. Francis of Assisi Parish

Frequently Asked Questions

• How much is this new building going to cost to build?
• The anticipated size of the building is 19,500 sq. ft. and the estimated cost per square foot is currently $400.
• What is the capacity of the banquet hall?
• 350 people for sit down dinners and 500 people for other events.
• Will there be enough meeting space?
• Yes. There will be two multipurpose rooms with high quality soundproof dividers so that these can be used as four smaller spaces when needed. The office conference room and the library will also be used as meeting space. And the Tovet Room at the Church will still be utilized. Additionally, we are still exploring solutions to see if it is feasible to utilize the banquet hall as a multipurpose space.
• Will there be enough storage space?
• While the new Parish Center will have storage space, it may not be enough for each of our many, many ministries to have a dedicated area to keep their materials. However, we are exploring a plan for an additional heated storage building to be constructed simultaneously, complimentary to the Parish Center, to ensure that everybody will have space for what they need to store.
• Did every group get everything they asked for?
• No. But everyone got some of what they wanted, with the biggest restriction being cost.
• The process of deciding what to include or exclude began with subcommittees interviewing the various ministry groups and members of staff to understand fully what their current use is and determine what their needs are. Current spaces were measured and evaluated by who utilizes the spaces and how often. Storage spaces were also measured and categorized by group use. The meeting spaces were also evaluated to determine the frequency of use by groups.
• The architects took this very detailed information and created "working blocks" for the steering committee to review and refine. This involved several revisions. The end result is a space that will meet our current needs and allow for future growth.

Capital Campaign Questions

• What is 'Living Our Faith, Building Our Future'?
• This is the name of our Capital Campaign to raise the necessary funds for building our new Parish Center.
• How did we land on $8,000,000 as the Capital Campaign goal?
• Based on the estimated cost of $400 per square foot and the current floorplan, the estimated cost of the new Parish Center will be $7,800,000.
• Additionally, the parish owes the Diocese for our portion of the Beacon of Faith capital campaign and the Annual Catholic Appeal campaigns for 2024 and 2026. These were deferred by the Diocese while we began our own fundraising and still need to be paid. This number totals: $377,672.
• Do we need to raise all $8,000,000?
• Yes and no. Prior to the launch of the Capital Campaign, we had $1,500,000 in our Building fund.
• The Diocese has told us that we will be able to secure a bank loan for another $1,500,000. Quick math would say that leaves $5,000,000 left to be raised.
• However, if we take out a loan for $1,500,000, we will have loan payments including interest to be paid back to the bank. These payments are estimated to be between $9,000-$10,000 a month over 20 years, which means we will need to raise more money to pay back the loan.
• What about selling the three buildings on the Common?
• Yes, but not right away. The Office Building, K of C Building, and current Parish Center Building will all be sold with monies from their sale going toward the Building Fund and any mortgage we may have with the new Parish Center.
• However, until the new Parish Center is built, we still need space for our ministries to meet and our parish staff to do the work of the parish.
• What about other Fundraising Efforts?
• Established fundraising efforts such as the Spring Cash Raffle, Giant Tag Sale, Car Show, Golf Tournament, and Giving Tuesday, will continue to be needed as the Church is a not-for-profit organization.