Newspaper Page Text
Contents
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Diocese of/Ply^ «
SavannahILil J® IS
News 1-3
Commentary 4-5
Around the Diocese 6-7
Faith Alive! 8-9
Notices 10-11
Last But Not Least 12
Vol. 79, No. 32 $.50 per issue
Thursday, September 23, 1999
Booming economy increases
Cathedral project costs;
restoration will continue
By Barbara D. King
Savannah
he booming U.S. economy has been good
news for investors but unexpected bad news
for the project to restore the Cathedral of Saint
John the Baptist in Savannah to its original
splendor.
A sharp increase in construction costs and a
shortage of building materials, fueled by the
upswing in the economy, have combined to
increase the projected cost of the restoration
from $5.3 million to over $9 million.
“Prices have gone up all around and there is a
shortage of building materials,” said Father
William O. O’Neill, rector of the Cathedral. “No
one’s hungry for work. This is probably the
worst time possible to be in the midst of a pro
ject like this.”
Besides the escalating costs of materials,
Father O’Neill said unforeseen existing damage
to the Cathedral structure has increased the pro
jection for the project. “The iron at the base of
the steeples is rusted,” Father O’Neill said.
“This was not discovered until the gargoyles
were removed. Also, there is termite damage in
the rose window,” which is the decorative round
window over the main door to the Cathedral.
Left: Scaffolding rises around the Cathe
dral's spires.
Fortunately, through the generosity of bene
factors, the Jubilee Campaign, One Faith ... One
Family, has raised $5.5 million over its original
goal of $10 million. The increase, combined
with plans to work to keep prices down and a
decision to cut all but the essential work on the
project, will mean that the restoration will con
tinue, Father O’Neill said.
“We can’t stop work now and we don’t want
to skimp on quality when restoring such a mag
nificent structure,” he added. “These are prob
lems that won’t go away. We have been told that
if nothing is done we are in danger of losing
essential parts of the building within five years.”
The $5.3 estimate was based on 1997 con
struction costs. The elaborate scaffolding neces
sary for the project alone has doubled in price
since the estimate was made. “Also, the costs of
replacing the roof and the terra cotta on the
building have doubled,” Father O’Neill said
Through negotiations, project managers have
reduced the new estimate for scaffolding from
$1.1 million to $850,000.
Compounding the problems is the fact that
“patching” projects on the cathedral over the
years have resulted in sealing in moisture into
the structure. “We have weep holes throughout
the building and moisture that has been sealed
(Continued on page 11)
Over $3.5 million goes to parishes
N ew churches, parish halls, school
expansion, parking lots, new
organs, general renovation and other
parish projects are taking place in the
Diocese of Savannah boosted by the
Jubilee Campaign, One Faith... One
Family. Over $3.5 million of the
money raised in the diocesan campaign
will be returned to parishes throughout
south Georgia.
When asked why the diocese is giv
ing such a large amount back to
parishes, Pat Signs, Director of
Stewardship and Development of the
diocese responded. “One reason is that
it was an opportunity to assist smaller
parishes who would never have the
resources to hire professional fundrais
ers to conduct their own campaigns.”
A number of parishes took advantage
of this parish sharing.
If all pledges con
tinue to be paid,
Saint Anthony
Parish in Savannah
will have an addi
tional $36,000 for
needed improvements to its facilities.
Saint Matthew in Statesboro will have
a new parking lot, and Saint Paul in
Douglas will be moving to a new loca
tion and building a new church, having
been “jump started” with close to
$150,000.
A number of small rural parishes, for
example, Holy Family in Metter and
Holy Trinity in Swainsboro, raised sig
nificant money for improvements to
their facilities.
An addition to the
church at Saint
Augustine in
Thomasville, dedi
cated September 19,
seats 100 more parishioners. To help
accomplish this, Father Victor Seidel,
pastor of Saint Augustine’s, asked the
Priests’ Advisory Council of the cam
paign, that the parish be permitted to
guarantee the 80% of their goal
($71,200) to the diocese and retain the
money raised above this amount.
Permission was readily granted and
this parish of fewer than 200 parish
ioners raised a total of $314,000.
Saint Anne Parish in Columbus and
Saint John the Evangelist Parish in
Valdosta both had large building pro
jects planned when the Jubilee
Campaign came along. To accommo
date their needs they retained a full
time consultant from Guidance in
Giving (the firm that conducted the
diocesan campaign) and guaranteed
their portion to the diocese, keeping all
that was raised above that amount.
Saint Anne’s and Saint John’s each
(Continued on page 1 1)
Photos of parish projects
financed by the campaign
are featured on page 6.