The Bell Has Arrived!

McShane Bell Foundry, the company that has been restoring our bell, drove the bell up from Maryland today to begin the process of putting the bell in the steeple where it will finally reside after its' long journey through restoration these last seven months.

 BEFORE RESTORATION

AFTER RESTORATION

CLOSE UP OF INSCRIPTION

 The bell was first wrapped in saran wrap to protect it during the ascent to the bell tower.

The bell weighs 953 pounds and a counterweight was necessary to lift the bell up to the steeple.

The bell is now staged awaiting the steel beams that will hold it in place.

Stained Glass

Many of you may be wondering about all of the clear glass windows you see around the new church.  For every large clear glass window that looks like this....

You will eventually see stained glass that looks like this....

You can see the framing for the stained glass windows in place already in the clear glass.  This clear glass window is called a Sussman window and it is designed to hold the place for and accept stained glass when we are ready.  The window opening was determined by the size of the stained glass window so that once the stained glass is installed, there will no longer be any clear glass in that window opening. We have 16 stained glass windows for the nave (main body) of the church. We will have additional stained glass windows in the Daily Mass Chapel and in the rear of the church behind the sanctuary.

 All windows are being renovated at Joe Beyer Studio Please click here to go to a live feed where you can watch the restoration of our windows underway at the studio.  If you would like to see some of Joe Beyer's work here onsite, please visit our Perpetual Adoration Chapel.  Joe renovated and installed the windows in the chapel.

One note, while we have all of the windows in our possession, we are not able to renovate and install all windows by the church dedication.  Rather, some of the windows will be a work in progress as we will need additional funding in order to complete the renovation and installation of them.

Daily Mass Chapel

This is a shot of the Daily Mass Chapel.  All paint in the church is from Sherwin Williams.  The color on the walls of the chapel is Ancient Marble and the ceiling is Nonchalant White.  These colors are in the green family designed to complement the selected carpet, chairs, and other furnishings.  The chapel will have a peaceful, simple, elegant design to it.  There will not be any marble in the furnishings, rather wood elements with touches of iron.  Our statues of the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph which currently reside in the present church, will find their new home in the Daily Mass Chapel.  The reconciliation rooms are located off the chapel on either side in the back and one is pictured below.

Reconciliation Room

Restrooms

This is a recent shot of the men's bathroom.  When you walk into the narthex, there is a hall to the left and a hall to the right down which is located the primary bathrooms.  As you can see, we will be equipped with plenty of restroom space!

Stonework

The stonework, once underway last week moved very quickly and efficiently.  Soon, the gray toned EIFS (stucco) will be added to the church covering up the baby blue that we have all become so accustomed to!