We’re gearing up for our capital campaign kick-off next Sunday! Please mark your calendar to join us between services for a kick-off celebration during coffee hour. Campaign volunteers will be present to answer any questions you may have. We’ll unveil images of some of our project plans and we’ll all join together as we continue the good work we do as a community.
Beginning with this bulletin insert, each week we’ll highlight a different campaign project that will share why the project is important and what our plan is for achieving it. First up…
North-side Parking Lot and Walkways
Nearly every parishioner at Saint Gabriel has an opinion and some experience with the drainage and ice problem that exists in our parking lot and front walkways. In fact, archived Vestry minutes dating back 50 years reveal that the parking lot has always been a challenge!
In the winter months, melting snow flows down the slope of our parking lot and pools near the front sidewalks. We have all experienced the treacherous walking conditions that occur when that water freezes. This situation is made worse by water that flows off our building’s roof and onto our sidewalks. Slick surfaces present a challenge for all of us, but older members of our parish can be more susceptible to falls and experience more severe consequences as a result of the ice.
Over time, the church has worked to solve these issues but with varying degrees of success. Ten years ago, we all made a substantial investment installing a drainage system that feeds water into a detention pond at the rear of our property. These drains were intended to be added to as part of the overall solution.
The Fix
In 2015, the civil engineers at Anderson & Hastings consultants, Inc., conducted a full site survey and identified a long-term solution to properly direct water into our drains and dramatically alleviate our long-time struggle with water and ice. Snow is part of what we all love about Colorado! We can’t make the snow and ice stop, but we can put in place the best solutions we can to make conditions safer on our grounds.
New grading of the parking lot and additional covered, slotted drains will direct water in the parking lot to our existing drains in a more efficient way. (At next week’s kick-off celebration, take a look at the blueprints of this solution!). In addition, water that now flows from the roof spouts and ends up on the sidewalks to freeze over, will now flow into underground vessels that feed into our drains.
For extra measure, we will install a parish hall entrance ice-melt system that will take care of any ice that does form on walkways, removing the need for the mats we now use that can be a tripping hazard. The system is easy to operate and will be maintained annually through a service contract.
When all this work is done, new concrete sidewalks and curbs will be poured and the parking lot will be regraded to a better slope and finished with brand-new asphalt, finished off with landscaped islands with smooth concrete curbs.
Next Week
When you attend our campaign kick-off celebration next Sunday, take a moment to look at the rendering of the outside parking lot, walkways and landscaping we have planned. Walk by the engineers’ blueprint of how the drainage issue will be fixed. We hope you’ll be pleased with the work the Vestry and C2A2 Committee have done to solve the issue that our parish has unanimously said is the top priority.
In the meantime, please pray for the church leaders and volunteers who are working diligently to ensure a successful outcome.