Q: I heard talk about fixing the convent three years ago. Why hasn’t it been done yet?

A: When John Ireland School deconsolidated, finding a tenant for our school building became top priority. In
the summer of 2004 a vast renovation of the school building was completed (new heating/cooling and sprinkler system, plus some classroom and dance studio renovation) for the Main Street School of Performing Arts (MSSPA). Income back to St. Joseph’s would come based on the enrollment at the new charter school. The original timelines were based on enrollment projections that turned out to be high. Current enrollment at MSSPA is 195, which makes it a very strong, stable school-just a little smaller than originally projected.
MSSPA is still growing and we are finally getting to the point where we will be making a profit from our tenant
(and not merely getting just enough to cover the minimum payments).

Now that the parish is coming to a position of financial stability, we can consider more renovation and where we would be considered for a loan, we are taking up the task again. Fr. Jerry Dvorak called the new facilities team together on February 19, 2007. We find that the situation has changed somewhat, so our past plans have to be looked at again. The Facilities Committee wants to move very carefully, so that we act in the best interest of the whole parish. Our goal is to generate a plan that will meet the present and future needs of the parish.
We ask for everyone’s prayers as we discern which actions need to be taken. Thank you. We welcome any input,
suggestions or questions as we try to come up with a workable plan.