What's Going on in the Parking Lot?

An update from Fr. Bedel, Fr. Pasala, and the parish staff:

As Summer begins to fade into Fall perhaps you've noticed orange cones and some torn up concrete when you've been here for one of our weekly 16 Masses. While the world may seem unstable, St. Margaret of York continues to move forward and our parking lot is getting a facelift. 

The parking lot includes the resurfacing and repair and a drive that will flow from the traffic light to the new covered entrance of the church.  We will complete the process of replacing the parking spots that were reduced with the playground move and resurfacing the entire parking lot. We anticipate this project will be completed by the end of September.

It is amazing to think how much life has changed over the course of the past five months. Even more amazing is that last August we were cleaning up after another successful SMOYfest where thousands of people attended our campus event. This year we are trying to figure out how we can accommodate more than 200 at a time.  

In 2016 St. Margaret of York embarked on a capital campaign with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s One Faith, One Hope, One Love campaign. Our goal was to improve our campus and make it more welcoming. The first part was a new entrance that allowed people to access the church. Before the new entrance was completed, most of the parishioners entered and exited the church through a single fire exit door. This new entrance has created additional benefits that we had not previously anticipated.  

Safety, security, visibility, and weather protection are features that we gained with this entrance. We added new security cameras. There is an abundance of natural light in the church. The new covered drive has become a source of weather protection as meeting spaces moved outside. We have already used this space for our school’s graduation drive-through and group meetings. The school will utilize the roof for the school play this weekend.  

Additionally, this phase of the campaign will also include raising the altar and add frontals with kneelers for the four main sections of the church. The contracts have been signed to complete the structure improvements designed for the church.  The new tabernacle, which has received a majority of the funding outside the All.In. Campaign, is expected to be installed within the next 6-8 months. The addition of a room with a second confessional and storage will support a magnificent reredos/altar of repose. The altar platform, which has funding from as far back as 2008, will be raised two steps for visibility and to better identify the sacred space for the altar and tabernacle. 

The goal is to have all of this completed before Lent in 2021. The subsequent phase is scheduled to address the needs of the school. As with each of the other projects, all of the funds must be received before we can start work. Thank you for your continued support of St. Margaret of York and your generosity.