Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,
We welcome Fr. Daniel Rice this weekend to our parish community and hope you can come to meet him at a reception after the 11am Mass. I will ask him to write a piece about himself for publication in the bulletin July 12, since probably a lot of people will be away for the weekend of the 4th of July. Bishop has given us permission to celebrate the prayers for Independence Day at all the Masses for Sunday this year.
BREAKING NEWS! Last week we completed three meetings with prospective general contractors who are now refining their bids on the design documents for our new Parish Life Center! Once final bids are in we will award the project to the winning general contractor after the holiday.
It has been long coming. We started talking about this Parish Life Center when we were finishing up the expansion of administrative offices in the school and the addition of a second preschool classroom in 2016-17. When I came here the pastor’s office was so spacious. I knew all it needed was another eight feet of width for a second preschool classroom. It would double our chances of continued enrollment in kindergarten and ensure the future of the school. I moved into one of the regular offices (originally intended as cell bedrooms for the sisters) with what I thought was a temporary arrangement until we had a chance to remodel the offices to be more functional. Temporary has become permanent as our budget has ruled out office renovations.
After final drawings are done and permits are obtained from Fairfax County, we anticipate breaking ground as early as Spring 2028 and construction will take about a year, maybe a little less.
Since the new building is a continuation of the existing building, all parish staff will located on the top floor with office access from the preschool entrance during construction where you will find the front office. We’ll have to do some creative planning for that year; the Bradican Room level and the first level of the offices will likely be offline.
We haven’t put up final pictures of how the building will actually look, because design is still ongoing. We are proceeding with what
is called a “design-build” program with the contractor, who will be involved in guiding the design process from here forward, guarantee the job at a set budget, and ensure that the project does not go over budget. That means that we will value- engineer construction details to make sure we get the building we hope for at a price we can afford. In some cases, design can be simplified and building materials can be substituted. Especially now, with the volatility in building supplies, energy costs, and markets, keeping to the budget will be a moving target and will need to be watched carefully.
I hope feel how exciting this is for the life of our parish. Especially now, with the parish coming to life more each day, we will have a place to grow into. We have been so limited in our potential as a parish simply because we lack space to do anything… This building will change our lives.
Thank you, thank you, all you who have made this possible, about 925 families. The two campaigns have been accomplished without major donors, which means we have pulled together and accomplished this goal bit by bit, each as of you are able. (Of course, we wouldn’t turn away any major donors if you still might be interested!) When this is done, it will be a home for our parish family which has already grown by 125 families since the beginning of the year.
We will keep you informed of developments as we learn them! Pray for our discernment and keep our future general contractor in your prayers. Especially, pray that preparations get completed in a timely manner so we can get started as soon as possible!
One last note, it is time to start planning for the coming year if you might be interested in joining the Catholic Church. The OCIA program (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults) begins the first week of September in both English and Spanish — it will be here before we know it. We meet on most Monday nights 7:15-8:30pm in the Bradican Room. The cohort that forms is a community within a community as seekers walk together with our excellent team in learning more about faith and life. If you are interested or know anyone who might be considering the Church, please know you are invited to come and see.
The Lord be with you,
