The $1,000,000 Parish Renovation
by Julie Lally

The story of the most recent renovation of Little Flower Church and School began with a small working subcommittee of the parish Liturgy Commission. Led by Sister Mary Ellen Proulx, C.S.J., Director of Music and Liturgy, this inauspicious group began in 1993 to plan for a most ambitious project.

Construction of Little Flower Church was completed in 1949. Because of age, worn systems, and deferred maintenance, the church building was in bedraggled shape. Broken floor tiles, water-streaked walls, weakened tuck pointing, inadequate lighting, carpeting of many colors, and a grimy domed ceiling detracted from the innate beauty and unique structure of the church.

In 1989, former pastor Father Robert Lampert had begun to gather plans and appraisals for refurbishing the church, but the project did not survive. The Liturgy Commission began anew to study the information and recommended action. Father Benz and the Parish Council supported the idea and a renovation committee of parishioners was formed.

After carefully gathering data, the parish retained the architectural firm of Stauder and Associates and the fund-raising firm of Capital Development Services. Parishioner Jack Lally served as general chairperson of the fund-raising effort. During the entire process, the members of the parish were surveyed for input, informational meetings were held, and a final plan of priority projects was developed.

The most amazing part of this renovation was the generosity of the members of Little Flower Parish. The proposed goal was $530,000 with a challenge goal of $700,000. To everyone’s surprise, the eventual total collected was $1,000,000, which included two generous gifts directed specifically for the complete restoration of the organ and the purchase of a grand piano.

For three years, our parishioners faithfully paid their pledges, which were in addition to their usual Sunday contributions.

The renovation included the purchase of a new boiler, the removal of asbestos ceiling and floor, a new ceiling in the dome, repair and painting of all other ceilings, all new electrical wiring, new carpeting and flooring, improved interior lighting, new outdoor lighting, a new cry room/bride’s room, new restroom facilities, new storage rooms, a new choir area on the main floor, a new reconciliation room, refinished pews in the main church and in the Little Flower Chapel, a new ambo, new sound system, new walls in All Souls’ Chapel, memorial plaques in St. Joseph’s Chapel, the painting of exterior windows and doors, and improvements to the School Hall, including a new pre-Kindergarten classroom. With the advice of Archbishop Justin Rigali, the tabernacle was placed in the Little Flower Chapel. Its marble base was made a permanent altar in the Chapel.

For nine months, our congregation showed their adaptability and worshiped in the School Hall. Every Saturday afternoon, after dancing school, parishioners set up chairs, which were then taken down Sunday morning after 10:30 Mass. Because of simultaneous renovations in the school, for a time even the floor was missing in the School Hall, but people took this in stride. Daily Mass was held in the convent chapel.

Finally, on December 24, 1996, we celebrated the reopening of the church for Christmas Eve Mass. This was significant because the first Mass in the original church building, called “the cardboard cathedral,” was also celebrated on Christmas Eve 71 years earlier. All of us praised Father Benz for his vision, leadership, dogged determination, and plain hard work in completing this renovation.