Update from Fr. Larry - June 26

Here is an update of the progress of our design plans for the new project. The Diocese of Dallas requires that the Diocesan Building Commission and the Diocesan Sacred Places Commission review all liturgical projects at the following stages: Master Plan, Schematic, Design Development, and Construction Documents. In September we received approval for the Master Plan. In November we presented the initial Schematic and were asked to do some revisions. In December we presented the Master Plan to you during Mass and showed you a "3-D fly through." In February the Schematic was approved by the Diocese. That was presented to you at Mass in March. By the way, when I personally showed Bishop Farrell the renderings of the new Church and chapel, he replied with eyes gleaming, "This looks like a Church!"

Since then, we have been steadily working on the Design Development, the filling out of the details of the Church, chapel, parking and landscape. On June 10 and June 11 the Design Development was approved by the Diocese.

So, there is a lot of behind-the-scene work by the architects and our Building Commission. Very little has changed in the renderings that we presented in March, and so we will not redo the renderings. But we will give you timely reports as we develop and polish the details of the landscape; choice of materials for Church and chapel; design of altar, ambo, chair, tabernacle; baptistery; pews; stained glass; statues; and a hundred other details.

Thank you for your patience, support and suggestions.

Parishioner Input on Schematic Design for the New Church

Received After 6/7 March 2010 Masses

The project team thanks everyone who took time to provide the following thoughts on the Schematic Design, or initial concept plans,  for our new church.  As you can see below, our team has addressed in bold italics each comment that is presented in plain print.  In some cases the answers indicate a decision already made or that a suggestion will be addressed at the proper time in the project plan.  As with any major project, many of the decisions made, or yet to be made, will be based upon liturgical, economic, and life-cycle maintenance considerations.  We hope everyone will understand that as a result of our decision parameters, not all suggestions and recommendations can be used.  Nevertheless, we will endeavor to incorporate as many inputs that meet the decision criteria.

Click HERE to view comments and responses.

Schematic Design

Click HERE to view schematic design images of our new church.

Master Plan Update

Master Plan Presentation

December 4 and 5, 2009

We have been working hard as a committee with our architect since the summer

Today we are presenting the approved master plan for our future development

This master plan was one of about 9 different options that the building committee reviewed, revised and discussed. This master plan has been fully approved and endorsed by the Sacred Places Commission and the Dallas Diocese and we are now working on the Schematic Design of the Church Building

This plan works because it works within our existing frame work, works with the existing parking and roads and maintains current utility locations as well as allows access all around the new building

 The master plan development was based upon the focus of the site as we drive in the main drive off of El Dorado and the main focus of uniting our site

Two axis were defined one as you drive on to the site you will see the new chapel building, I will get back to that in a minute and the other focus of the site development is the “Holy Way “walk, developed to unite the church and its front door thru the campus to the west to all our future development, we see this as a great uniting feature and a transitional space from the parking, thru the walk, into the courtyard and then into the church. This travel is envisioned to be a great transition to prepare the parish for mass as you travel thru the campus.

 The courtyard – frames the new church building and the new chapel building and creates a new area for gatherings, transitions, celebration, with future development of this area. We are envisioning different areas for quiet reflection, setting up tables for community events, activity after mass, a potential bell tower and other garden spaces reflecting different aspects of our Catholic Community

 The new church building – set on the east end of the “holy Way’ framing the site, set adjacent to our existing building but far enough away to create its own presence and not compete visually or aesthetically with our existing building. Located to become the prominent place on the site, with roads all around, as required by the fire department and parking all around, but the main doors will be on the west side. We envision additional transitional environments on the sides of the church as you walk into the church for mass. Additionally there is a linking canopy system to unite all buildings, a handicapped drop off point to the south with a canopy and stairs and ramps throughout the courtyard to unite the entire space.

The new chapel building – This will become the heart of the site, the Eucharist is here and will be central to unite all of our buildings to ne central place of worship. The chapel is located to frame our existing courtyard, and yes the fish ponds will need to be removed, maybe relocated not decided on this yet. This chapel building will hold up to 300 and be used for daily mass, weddings, funerals, etc. We liked this options is allowed for a smaller more intimate setting and allowed for the air conditioning  of the church to not be turned on for the smaller daily masses and other events. Additionally, the chapel frames a courtyard space and helps frame our new courtyard and allows us to develop a similar architecture to unite the new buildings with the existing buildings, providing a visual cue for a campus feel. Finally the separate chapel allows our church building to be smaller which allows us to move the church building west avoiding a costly retaining wall situation,

All the parking we installed last year is maintained and remains in places, the circle drive is removed and this area becomes our new courtyard space.

Building Project Update

October 25, 2009

The Building Committee is now focusing attention on the church design, planned to be traditional and noble in its simplicity while being evocative of the spirituality of our patron, St. Francis. Our principle guide to this effort is the document issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, Built of Living Stones: Art, Architecture, and Worship. The document can be viewed on-line at the website www.usccb.org/liturgy/livingstones.shtml. The document pro-vides the framework for designing and building our new church by highlighting the relationship between the building and the sacred rites celebrated within, the importance of art and architecture, and the more practical construction planning and budgetary aspects of the project. We encourage you to read it.

Building Project Update

September 20, 2009

The Building Committee and Father Larry met with the Diocesan Sacred Places Committee on 3 September to review a proposed plan for locating the new church on our property. Once the Building Committee receives official Diocesan approval, the new site plan will be published and work will immediately begin on the Schematic Design for the new church. The core needs for our 1500-seat church remain and have not changed from those articulated in the past by many in our community. The bottom line is to build a special worship space that looks like a church, is inspirational, and uplifting—elegant, not opulent with a simple design/form using natural materials where possible

Our sincere thanks go to those donors for their continued gifts to the Building Fund. Your pledge contributions are all the more appreciated in these challenging economic times. With the renewal of the Building Project, cash received from Building Fund pledges is essential to build the new church. The success of this building project also depends on every parish family making a serious, heartfelt, and prayerful financial commitment over the next few years. If you recently paused your Building Fund pledge, we ask you to prayerfully consider renewing your commitment. If you are new to the parish and have not yet made a pledge, please make the same prayerful consideration to help build our new church home. This newsletter will continue to provide the most current project information as it be-comes available. Please call the Development Office if you have questions about the project or making a pledge to the Building Fund.

The Building Committee and Father Larry met on 29 July with our new architect, Mr. Jim Heck. Mr. Heck’s visit was to allow him the time to visit with the committee members, and later the staff, to get their thoughts on the design requirements for our church. Although this is a new design effort, the core needs for our 1500-seat church have not changed from those articulated in the past by many in our community. Accordingly, the committee members voiced those core design requirements--the new church design should:

• Consider environmental principles and energy (heating/cooling/lighting) efficiency
• Reflect a community as one with seating close to the altar
• Be a historical representation of the Catholic Church, a reflection of our tradition
• Look like a church, inspirational, and uplift-ing—elegant, not opulent with a simple design/form using natural materials where possible
• Be easy and economical to maintain and easy to access
• Have pews with kneelers and stained glass
• Tell a story inside about our faith and devo-tions
• Have a shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe
• Evoke the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi

Mr. Heck’s initial task will be to develop alternative locations on our property for the new church for Father Larry and the Building Committee to evalu-ate. Once the alternatives locations are completed and reviewed, the Building Committee and Father Larry will meet with and gather input on the possi-ble site locations from the Diocesan Building Com-mission and Sacred Places Commission. We will update the parish once the location has been deter-mined.

Our sincere thanks to those donors for their contin-ued gifts to the Building Fund. Your pledge contri-butions are all the more appreciated in these chal-lenging economic times. With the renewal of the Building Project, cash received from Building Fund pledges is essential to build the new church. The success of this building project also depends on every parish family making a serious, heartfelt, and prayerful financial commitment over the next few years. If you recently paused your Building Fund pledge, we ask you to prayerfully consider renewing your commitment. If you are new to the parish and have not yet made a pledge, please make the same prayerful consideration to help build our new church home. This newsletter will continue to pro-vide the most current project information as it be-comes available. Please call the Development Of-fice if you have questions about the project or mak-ing a pledge to the Building Fund.

Throughout January and February, Msgr. Pichard and the Building Committee spent time together discussing the project history and associated issues, with emphasis on mapping forward looking plans. Most notable was outlining the process for the selecting a new architect. First, four candidates were identified in March, interviewed on 3 April, and subsequently several post-interview visits were made by Father Larry and the Building Committee members in April and May to observe churches newly completed or renovated from the design work of each candidate. Father Larry personally visited several of the churches designed by the candidates in May to evaluate their work. The candidate selection and contract negotiations were completed in late June and the contract was signed by the Bishop on 2 July.

Father Larry and the Building Committee have selected Fischer Heck Architects, Inc., of San Antonio to design our new church building. Fischer Heck has been in business for 29 years and has worked on over ninety religious architecture projects during that time. They have also been designing Catholic churches since 1989. Mr. James Heck is a member of the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, and Architecture and has designed and renovated several churches in San Antonio including the historic San Fernando Cathedral. Fischer Heck also designed the recently completed St. Ann Catholic Church in Sherman.

The Building Committee is pleased to have completed this important milestone, but many additional actions remain, including building a project timeline. However, the timeframe to complete the project will not be established until the site plan has been re-evaluated by the new architect and the schematic design and project budget have been completed, reviewed, and approved within the parish and at the Diocese. Mr. Heck’s first effort will be the site plan evaluation. Once those efforts and an approved Schematic Design are completed, the results will be provided to the parish. Additional review and approval stages will be necessary for the later Design Document drawings and the Construction Drawings, all before construction begins. We continue to press ahead with our plan—to build a new church, a beautiful and noble building that will be evocative of the spirituality of our patron, St. Francis. In the meantime, this Newsletter will continue to provide the most current project information as it becomes available. Please call the Development Office is you have questions.