Dear Friends,
My letter today does not focus on discipleship or spiritual concerns but on the harsh reality the parish is facing as it deals with decisions concerning the future of our old rectory. Read on if you have been wondering what is happening with the rectory and how soon I might be living back on campus.
First, a little history…the southern most part of the rectory was built in 1910 right after the church was completed. An addition was put on in the 1920’s that added a library for the priests and a larger room for the associate pastor. In the 1960’s, the section with the garages and the rooms above them were added. Besides the garages, that addition added a nice-sized dining room, kitchen, housekeeper’s quarters, private bathrooms for the clergy and a community room. All went well, until, during the time Fr. Salanitro was pastor, a watermain broke across the street from the rectory which was not noticed until the foundation of the rectory started sinking and a large hole emerged in the yard. The oldest sections of the rectory sank creating a six-inch drop from one side of the room to the other. Minor repairs were completed at the time to repair the large cracks that had appeared but the conclusion was that the rectory could not be restored without substantial cost. Those conditions have continued, and gotten worse, until today with a third of the rectory not usable because of the uneven flooring.
When I arrived nine years ago, I asked a structural engineer to examine the research done at the time of the watermain break and evaluate the present structure. His conclusion: do not put any money into this building because it will eventually have to be torn down. The only way to save it is to drill down to bedrock and build pilons on which to mount the rectory at a cost of a million dollars or more. Wonderfully, at that same time, we were able to buy the old Christ Child Building and move parish offices and activities out of the rectory. The rectory simply became a place for me to live.
Between the destruction caused by the young woman who broke into the rectory and the chemicals used by the police to get her out, the rectory will have to be gutted and the interior completely redone. Before spending $200,000 of insurance and parish money to redo the rectory, the Parish Finance Council asked that we have the rectory examined by people who understand buildings to advise us on the best steps moving forward. That was done by Hawkins Construction. Their conclusions were the same as the engineer nine years ago – do not spend any money on this building. Their rationales were the following: the foundation is compromised, it will have to be torn down in the near future; the heavy weight of the walls sitting at angles on the weakened foundation are creating further stress on the already compromised foundation; the ground upon which it sits is still moving; and water always wins…always.
Parish leadership is discussing options at this point. No decision has been made on how we are going to move forward. Minimally, we need to find a place for me to live when the sublease we have now in downtown Omaha expires in August. We are looking at homes in the neighborhood which have come up for sale as possible alternatives. We are working with Catholic Mutual Insurance and Paul Davis Restoration to come up with an amount we could put toward a different building if we choose not to restore the present rectory. We are exploring the cost of minimal restoration if we decided to use the present rectory as a storage building until it needs to be torn down.
I am open to your ideas and thoughts. While providing for the room and board of priests assigned to the parish is the parish’s responsibility, it is not my highest priority. Building the Kingdom of God among us, making disciples of Jesus, caring for the community of believers – these are my priorities. A place to call home helps to maintain my workload but is not the goal of my work.
We will keep you in the loop. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks.
Fr. Damian