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Latest Bulletin (March 8, 2008)

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS CONCERNING THE PROPOSED
RECONSTRUCTION OF PARISH FACILITIES AND THE CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

1. Why has the parish embarked on a capital campaign to raise funds for building new facilities?

We have determined that our present facilities are inadequate for a our growing parish needs. These facilities do not promote a sense of community or belonging. For our parish to flourish in coming generations, we want to enhance all aspects of our parish life. Therefore, we are planning to replace our facilities on a phased basis.

2. Why are the present facilities considered inadequate?

PHASE 1 -School: The facility is old and worn out. It would require costly upgrades to meet current standards (plumbing, electrical, ADA, earthquake, and habitability including traffic noise and ventilation.) The school is also noisy, overcrowded, and does not foster modern learning methods. We want to enhance the academic environment for both the school and religious education programs. Back in 1945, when our school was built, we had less than 1,000 parishioners. At that time, we had an average of one funeral every two weeks. This meant that on occasion, the students in school would have to share half of their play ground with funeral parking. In 2008, we have nearly 6,000 families and a funeral almost everyday (sometimes twice a day). This impacts the children's play time greatly.

PHASE 2 -Parish Hall: While it has been upgraded over the years, it is too small, requires expensive maintenance, and would require renovations to bring up it to current earthquake building codes. It does not meet our increasing demands for meeting space to support our many ministries.

PHASE 3 -Church: Inadequate in both in size and design. Our studies have indicated that in order to meet the needs of our growing faith community we need a church that will seat 1500 people. We must face the demands of growing urbanization on the western side of Chula Vista where the population is expected to increase over the next twenty five years. The existing church is a 1965 facility which requires excessive, costly maintenance to operate. It does not meet the requirements of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) for facility access, it has extensive asbestos and lead based paint, and it does not meet the new building code for earthquake protection. It also does not meet liturgical guidelines for the design and configuration of worship spaces. The church opens onto a busy and crowded urban street with no room for parishioners to congregate after Mass.

3. What alternatives were explored to overcome these shortcomings?

The possibility of obtaining larger alternative property as a replacement site within the parish boundaries was explored but there simply was no alternative site available. Purchase of adjacent property to expand the existing campus was cost prohibitive and simply not available. The Diocese of San Diego did make a reasonable offer to buy the property to the north by the KFC about seven years ago and it was rejected by the owner, Sweetwater Union High School District. Sweetwater intends to leverage this land to support building their new headquarters on L Street. We expect condominiums to be built on this property within the next five years. We also did a cost analysis and a construction feasibility test for renovating and expanding the existing church versus building a new church. The costs involved in renovation almost equaled the cost of building a new church that would seat just 1000 people or only about 250 more than the current capacity. Increasing the size of the existing church to have the desired 1500 seat capacity was not feasible based on cost and other limitations inherent in the existing church structure including ADA, asbestos, and earthquake guidelines.

4. How was the plan to build a new school, parish hall and church developed?

As you may remember, our Pastor, Father John Dolan, brought together a committee of parishioners in early 2003 to look at the long term facility needs of the parish. This committee, which we named the “Dream Team,” included a broad range of parish representation with expertise in construction, real estate, and architecture, as well as school parents/administrators, and several long time parishioners. They met over a period of a year and a half and during sixteen planning meetings they explored many different alternatives and options. They concluded that the existing site can accommodate long term parish needs with careful planning and multi-story construction of replacement facilities. With the help of architects hired by the diocese and a traffic engineering study by a civil engineer firm, the Dream Team developed and recommended a long range Master Plan for our complex.

5. Who approved the Master Plan?

The overall plan was submitted by our parish to the Diocese of San Diego and approved with some modifications by Bishop Brom in September of 2004. However, no buildings have been designed as of yet. Only conceptual drawings have been developed based on identified requirements and the new proposed layout of the facilities including building square footage. Parishioner input into the process was received during the planning study for our capital campaign. As we go forward with the design process, parishioners will provide additional input in developing the specific designs of the buildings including the church.

6. What will the new facilities include?

-Education Center. This will be a two story building and will be used for both our parish school (Kindergarten through 8th grade and a new pre-school) and our religious education program. It will also support our high school, young adult, and adult faith formation ministries. It will retain a ball field that will be comparable in size to the existing Ryan Field.

-Parish Hall. This will be a two story building with facilities for an indoor lunch facility for the school and a main hall with larger capacity for seating and dinner occupancy. It will have a complete kitchen on the first floor and both floors will have the capability to be divided up into four separate meeting rooms.

-Church. This will be a large 1500 seat (double our current capacity) worship space and will be located on the corner of Third Avenue and H Street. It will incorporate elements of the present church (e.g. stain glass windows, organ, etc.). The main entry doors will face the parking lot and be sound proofed to overcome the distraction of street noise. The beautiful stain glass window which depicts Saint Rose of Lima (presently installed in the existing parish hall) will be relocated to the new church and will face the corner of Third and H in a prominent way.

7. What will be the cost of building new facilities and can we afford it?

We anticipate that the entire cost of the building project will be spread over several years. Phase I includes construction of a new Education Center. It will cost approximately $5.3 million. We have raised (as of 1/1/08) $3.2 million in pledges and all but $800,000 has been paid thus far. We hope to raise an additional $2 million more in pledges from our parishioners that can be exteneded over the next three years. We will attempt to gain a loan from the diocese, but given their financial condition this may not become a reality. Therefore, we need every parishioners support. Phase II will be for the new hall for roughly the same amount ($5 million). The new church will cost approximately $6 million and would not be built until Phase I & 2 are completed. A follow-up on the Capital Campaign will be conducted later to support Phases II & III. For a parish this size, the entire project is affordable. Our average gift thus far toward the Phase I campaign has been $3,000 (extended over three years = $80 per month). Some have been able to make gifts of $5,000, $10,000, $25,000 and even more. Others have made smaller gifts but with the same sense of sacrifice. All gifts are greatly appreciated! We have over 6000 registered households. A broad commitment to support the capital campaign will be needed but it should not have a significant impact on our regular weekly collections which support ongoing ministries.

8. When would the proposed new education facility be built?

The toughest part of developing the Master Plan was to devise a plan that we could implement, i.e. do all the construction, and still continue with uninterrupted parish, school, and religious education operations. The sequence of construction that we envision will accomplish this objective We would hope to begin Phase I construction of the new education facility in January of 2009. This would complete Phase I sometime in 2010.

9. What about our parking situation?

Our Master Plan recognizes that we have a parking shortfall on Sundays between 8 AM and 2 PM. However, building a parking garage on our site is cost prohibitive. To meet our parking need for just six hours a week would cost approximately $4.5 million for a parking structure with the spaces going vacant during the other six days of the week. So, while we will increase our on site parking to over 200 spaces and improve the overall traffic flow, the bulk of our Sunday parking requirement must be met by off site parking arrangements. To this end, we have entered into agreements with the owners of nearby parking facilities which will allow us to use their parking on the weekends. This will require a short walk for those attending church on Sunday mornings. While it would be nice for everyone to be able to park right at the church door, this is not feasible. The use of shared parking arrangements has been endorsed by the City of Chula Vista and is consistent with current guidelines for addressing parking issues in urban areas.

10. Why was the rectory for our priests built first?

In order to save space in implementing the Master Plan for the parish complex, we made use of the property adjacent to our complex, as the site for the new rectory. The new rectory is smaller in sqare footage and has fewer rooms than in the old rectory. The old rectory is needed to transfer the science lab, computer lab and teacher's lounge of our learning center (3rd and Alvarado) so that we could demolish the learning center then begin building the new school. Funds for the new rectory were available before we ever began the campaign and no campaign funds were used to build the priet's house.

11. How can I make a pledge to the Capital Campaign?

A pledge can be made over a three year period or with a one time gift. The pledge can be pade by check to St. Rose of Lima Parish or may be auto-debited from your checking account or credit card. Some prefer to use the auto-debit in order to get flight rewards. Go to our contribution page for more information.

Pastor's Message
Reclaiming our Purpose: Rebuilding our Dream

Dear Friends:

In the constant rush of life, it is easy to forget our purpose as Christian people. Our Christian purpose begins at baptism. The priest or deacon says to the newly baptized, “As Christ was anointed priest, prophet, and king, so may you live always as a member of his body.” Baptized and anointed, we carry on the three-fold mission of Christ as prophetic people, priestly people, and kingly people.

Since its dedication back in 1921, St. Rose of Lima Parish has been a contributor to the three-fold mission of Christ.

• Our school and religious education facility has housed the necessary programs to foster the Prophetic mission of our Catholic students, teens, and adults.

• Our parish hall has allowed us to promote the Kingly mission of Christ; where all God’s people gather in friendship and charity.

• Our parish church, has housed the worshiping community who carries out the Priestly mission of our Savior.

It is time to remember our purpose. It is time to Reclaim our Mission!

It was the dream of the early parish to house the three necessary elements of our mission with a school, hall, and church. As we reclaim our mission, we must rebuild our dream.

It is time to create three new facilities to meet the needs of our ever-growing parish community and to build them in such a way that will allow the Mission of Christ to be accomplished.

I am looking to you for help. Reclaiming our Purpose and Rebuilding our Dream can only be accomplished by your gifts of time, talent, and treasure. I am reminded of the founders of our parish, a tiny group with big dreams for the future. They scrimped and saved through the depression years to build these facilities that have served us for nearly 85 years. Now they look to us to respond to the needs of our times and the future.

Let’s do it!

God’s Blessings,

Fr. John Dolan
Pastor

For Information or Comments on our Campaign Project, e-mail us
or call the parish office at (619) 427-0230.