St. Charles Borromeo is happy to announce that we will be working to restore our beloved facility to its original splendor. As you can likely tell from the scaffolding that has been installed around the entirety of our church, we have already begun the process. The following is a summary of work that will be taking place over the upcoming months:

1. All paint will be removed from the exterior facade
2.  All exterior masonry will be repaired, restored and cleaned.
3. Gutters and roofing will be repaired and restored.
4. Protective window coverings will be replaced to allow our spectacular stained glass windows to be appreciated.
5. Fencing will be restored or replaced.

We anticipate that the scaffolding should be down by Independence Day and the whole project completed by Labor Day of next year. This assumes average cold and snowfall during the Winter. We appreciate the support our neighbors and community during this process and apologize for any
inconvenience.

Church Windows
Due to the skill and hard work of Juliana O’Brien and Shumel Pearl we been awarded a grant of $75,000 for securing the Stained Glass windows of our Church. With this Grant we will have received $225,000.

Rectory/Parish Office
The rewiring and plastering will be completed by the end of September. The office and meeting rooms are, however, already in use. Full computer and phone service will be restored by late October. We thank you for your cooperation and patience.

Update: Current as of Sat. Aug.19^th.  New elements in italics.

Church:

Now: Scaffolding is virtually complete. There were some issues concerning how the platforms on which the workers would stand would be moved but they have been resolved and the scaffolding will be completed in plenty of time to begin the actual removal of the paint.

From Aug 15^th

Exterior:

Power: A 100amp panel will be run from the church and attached to the scaffolding for use by the abatement company. It will be mostly out of sight and certainly out of reach.

Wash room: A  6’x20’ plastic wrapped shed for the workers to clean themselves and their  clothing. This will be placed along the fence in the garden, the flowers and other plants will need to be moved to the Rectory Garden by Aug. 19^th. This shed will remain up for the abatement portion of the project.

Where the brick and brownstone has been painted: the scaffolding will be wrapped in netting all around to protect all areas from falling debris. Sections of the Church will be wrapped in plastic as abatement work progresses around. The paint will be removed, the brinks inspected and a scope of repairs finalized by the architect.

General Time Scheme for phase one:

• Paint removal: 4wks, Wed, 8/23/17 to Tues 9/19/17
• Exterior investigation: 3.4 wks, Mon 9/4 to Tuesday 9/26/17 (The bids have been received for this phase and some suggestions and questions made by the firms are being reviewed. The bids were about what was expected.)
• File drawings with Landmarks: 4wks, Wed. 9/27/17 to Tues 10/24/17

Interior: Some work needs to be done in the Church Boiler room, this may cause some noise but will not interrupt Mass.

Rectory:

Now: The Priests are now able to use the rectory with limited use of the kitchen and dining room.

Overall plan: Having consulted with the electricians contracted for the job, Rocklyn realty (the Diocesan real estate group) and an independent electrical contracted retained by Rocklyn, it has been thought most prudent to completely rewire the rectory. There were three compelling reasons:

• Scope of work: It has been difficult to determine what needs to be done. Whenever a new section is opened more problems are discovered. If we decided to proceed on our present knowledge we could very easily be so inundated by change orders that more money would be spent than if we did the system over. It is possible that some areas may be better than we thought and we would receive a rebate but I am not counting on it.
• Previous water damage: The garden wall of the rectory leaked severely last winter and needed considerable repointing. The wall has since held but the wires were soaked. They may pass a test now but could deteriorate in the future. Fixing this now is a sensible option.
• Ability to plan: Completely rewiring the rectory keeps the variables to a minimum.
  1. The workers will be contracted in advance and a timetable maintained. This would allow enough work to be completed that the Rectory (living areas for the Priests) would be able to fully function by Labor Day. The workers would not finish completely however until the end of September.
  2. We could begin the efforts to be reimbursed for these expenses. This will be a long process and it would be good to begin it as soon as possible with as clear a set of figures as we can develop.

Update: The work has been reviewed by Rocklyn’s engineer and found satisfactory. As expected several previously unknown issues have arisen. This was factored into the time frame and should not cause an overall delay. The engineer has explained to the contractor that the parish will need full use of the dining room, garden and parlor floor by Labor Day weekend. This is likely but the plastering and painting may not be completed. We also may not have air conditioning until the end of September.

Church:

Now: Erecting of Scaffolding to be completed by Aug.16^th.

From Aug 15^th

Exterior:

Power: A 100amp panel will be run from the church and attached to the scaffolding for use by the abatement company. It will be mostly out of sight and certainly out of reach.

Wash room: A  6’x20’ plastic wrapped shed for the workers to clean themselves and their  clothing. This will be placed along the fence in the garden, the flowers and other plants will need to be moved to the Rectory Garden by Aug. 19^th. This shed will remain up for the abatement portion of the project.

Where the brick and brownstone has been painted: the scaffolding will be wrapped in netting all around to protect all areas from falling debris. Sections of the Church will be wrapped in plastic as abatement work progresses around. The paint will be removed, the brinks inspected and a scope of repairs finalized by the architect.

General Time Scheme for phase one:

• Paint removal: 4wks, Wed, 8/23/17 to Tues 9/19/17
• Exterior investigation: 3.4 wks, Mon 9/4 to Tuesday 9/26/17
• File drawings with Landmarks: 4wks, Wed. 9/27/17 to Tues 10/24/17

Interior: Some work needs to be done in the Church Boiler room, this may cause some noise but will not interrupt Mass.

Rectory:

Now: Fr Anselmus and I are able to use the kitchen and dining room. Msgr LoPinto’s room should be livable by the end of the week of August 7^th.

Next step: Having consulted with the electricians contracted for the job, Rocklyn realty (the Diocesan real estate group) and an independent electrical contracted retained by Rocklyn, it has been thought most prudent to completely rewire the rectory. There were three compelling reasons:

• Scope of work: It has been difficult to determine what needs to be done. Whenever a new section is opened more problems are discovered. If we decided to proceed on our present knowledge we could very easily be so inundated by change orders that more money would be spent than if we did the system over. It is possible that some areas may be better than we thought and we would receive a rebate but I am not counting on it.
• Previous water damage: The garden wall of the rectory leaked severely last winter and needed considerable repointing. The wall has since held but the wires were soaked. They may pass a test now but could deteriorate in the future. Fixing this now is a sensible option.
• Ability to plan: Completely rewiring the rectory keeps the variables to a minimum.
  1. The workers will be contracted in advance and a timetable maintained. This would allow enough work to be completed that the Rectory (living areas for the Priests) would be able to fully function by Labor Day. The workers would not finish completely however until the end of September.
  2. We could begin the efforts to be reimbursed for these expenses. This will be a long process and it would be good to begin it as soon as possible with as clear a set of figures as we can develop.

Once more I would like to thank and commend Fr Anselmus, Msgr LoPinto and Blanca Anchundia for their support, understanding and creativity during this time.