St. Albert the Great

Building Fund Update: January 2001



A lot has happened since the last quarterly update in October 2000.

What has happened lately?

The projected construction cost of our church is now $5.7 million.

This figure is significantly more than our original estimate (of $3.5 million) because the size of the church we are now planning to build is significantly larger.

On a per square foot basis the original estimate has proven to be accurate. What has changed, however, is the number of square feet we are planning to build.

In our original estimate we did not anticipate the Diocese requiring us to build a church to seat up to 1200 people.

We did not anticipate the recognition by the Diocese of our “priest shortage” nor their response to that problem—which is to build bigger churches.

We are still planning to commence construction by October 31, 2001 to avoid the financial penalties. To meet this commitment, however, we need to have $2.4 million in our building fund—$1 million more than anticipated.

Where are our funds currently?

To date we have raised over $1.2 million in cash and pledges to build St. Albert the Great. We have:

This means we have almost reached our original target!

What has been decided?

There has been a great deal of discussion and debate, including numerous meetings, to discuss the cost increase. Know the escalation has not been taken lightly. We critically evaluated the estimate and concluded that this is the right design proposal to take forward to construction.

We met with the Bishop to seek his guidance with respect to the cost overruns and the project generally. We received his full support to proceed. We requested the architects scale back the project without losing any “functionality” of the building. We were successful in knocking $800,000 off the cost—the original proposal tabled by the architects was $6.5 million. We further challenged the cost estimate by employing an independent cost consultant. The consultant, hired by the Diocese, concluded the figures being presented to us were fair. We examined other recent projects of a similar magnitude. We found this proposal to be comparable.

We are not proposing to build an elaborate building. It is very modest. It is simply much larger than anticipated.

We need our own building to properly meet the needs of our parishioners and to continue to grow as a parish. We have outgrown the school gymnasiums. The groups working on this project recommend that we proceed with the construction of the church—despite the increase in its cost. It is too costly to postpone.

What’s next?

Although several initiatives have been undertaken already, and more are planned for the future, there is no way to avoid a second building fund pledge campaign.

Events such as The Silent and Live Auction, a golf tournament, and school raffles build a sense of community and help increase awareness. These events do not, however, raise the kind of money we need in the timeframe in which we need it.

Pledge II will run soon. It will include a kick-off rally at which we will provide additional details as to where we are and where we are going. Presentations will be made by the Building Fund Committee, Father Kevin and Bishop Henry.

We can do this!

A target of another million is a lot of money.

Knowing that we raised more than a million dollars over the last 12 months makes the task seem a little less daunting, but it doesn’t mean raising the next million will be easy. Remember that almost half of the last million came from sources outside of this parish. Our previous success, however, proves that we as a parish are able to achieve what we set out to accomplish.

If we don’t raise a million dollars in the next pledge campaign the consequences are frighteningly simple. We will not proceed with building St. Albert the Great in McKenzie Towne as currently planned.

Both groups working on this project believe we can do this. The increase in the number of people attending mass alone gives us hope. In addition, we are receiving great support from many sources outside our parish including the Bishop, the Diocese, other parishes, and interested individuals. While we are not alone, we will have to demonstrate support for the project amongst our members. We will need everyone to make a pledge during the next campaign.

We can do this. We need only have faith.


Your continued support is going to make this church a reality!



Contact Chris Post at 257-0819 or at cpost@kpmg.ca with any comments or questions.

Cash in the Bank