Cold Hollow Contracting of Burlington started staging of the south side of the roof in early June and started actual removal and replacement of slate in late June. Their schedule calls for completion of the south side of the church by Labor Day. Another company will be stagging the north side in August so that work can continue without interruption. Final completion of the work is scheduled for the middle of November. The original (circa 1895) decking under the old slate appears to be in good condition so far due to the very steep pitch of the roof. We have requested that the Contractor prepare a price to add snow guards to the north side of the main roof to protect the kitchen entrance and walkway to the City parking lot at the rear of the church.
The cost of the replacement roof is estimated at $895,000 including a $40,000 contingency for unforeseen repairs and additional items such as snow guards. All funding for this project is in place with the exception of the $100,000 gift promised by the Diocese that we expect to receive soon. Our Contract for the roof calls for monthly payments to the Contractor with 10% retainage held until the end of the project. The first payment of $90,810 was made July 1st. Bernie Chenette, P.E. is our representative managing and inspecting the progress of the work on behalf of St. Augustine’s.
Reported by Bernie Chenette, P.E, Building Committee Chair person
March 13, 2022
This spring we’ll be undertaking our largest and most expensive project since the church was remodeled in the late 1960’s after Vatican II.
Our roof is now 130 years old and is being replaced this year before further leaking causes serious damage to the structure of the building. The roof should have been replaced many years ago, but the cost has always seemed out of reach.
Allowing for issues such as rotted decking, our best estimate is that the replacement slate roof will cost approximately $900,000 based on the low bid of $855,000 we received last fall from Cold Hollow Contracting. The $900,000 reflects a modest 5% contingency for unexpected costs.
Because the Diocese would not allow us to start the project without having the total cost covered with currently available funds, we had to combine virtually all our reserve funds to get there. That includes the proceeds from sale of St. Michael’s School (back when Father Mike was here), sale of North American Martyrs Church in Marshfield, the bequest from the estate of Ruth Hayes, and other gifts, including of course our individual donations to the roof fund.
Late last year we already paid $256,500 to lock in the purchase price of all the cooper and slate at 2021’s prices. Cold Hollow is prepared to complete the roof in this construction season to maximize efficiency, in light of the elaborate staging and equipment required to access the roof and the almost certain inflationary increases in labor and material costs coming in the next year.
As you may already know, Bishop Coyne has agreed to help us by having the Diocese dedicate $100,000 towards our roof! This is great news for our Parish because we now have the fortunate opportunity over the next few months to have our donations to the roof project ensure that we won’t have to wipe out every last dollar of our reserves. We need to be able to pay the rising prices for fuel as well as the church’s emergency costs that arise unexpectedly.
On behalf of Father Julian, the Parish Council, the Finance Committee and our Building Committee, I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to everyone who has made contributions to the roof fund. Now is the time for those of us who have been richly blessed in so many ways to “dig deep”, and, in the case of those of us who have already made donations, to maybe dig “even deeper” (if we are able) to make this essential, long overdue Project happen.
We have been blessed with the tireless commitment of our resident parish engineer, Bernie Chenette, who has given countless hours of his time and expertise to the roof and so many other substantial improvements to St. Augustine’s Church over many years. Rest assured, Bernie will I’ll be tracking the progress of the Roof Project closely, and you can expect to hear from him, from time to time, explaining the changes you will see outside each week when you come to mass.
Thank you again for your generosity and God Bless You.
Reported by John Kessler, parish council chair person on March 12th & 13th, 2022.