Welcome to Saint Mary of the Assumption
a culturally rich and diverse Catholic family; through our worship, educational, youth and outreach ministries, we endeavor to welcome, to love, to evangelize and to serve, making Jesus Christ present in Word & sacrament.
Renovation Committee
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Photo Albums
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Electrical Upgrades
9 Photos
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Wainscot
18 Photos
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Stained Glass Windows
35 Photos
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When Fr. Raymond Goodwin was Pastor at Saint Mary's Parish, the need to renovate and update the upper church was recognized and a committee organized. At first, the question was whether this would be a restoration of the church as it was before, or a new renovation to bring the church a fresh look and efficient services such as electrical, fire protection and painting. As the committee began its meetings, needs presented themselves in the church with the need to repair leaks in the roof and the tower, and to the exterior of the window frames. This took several years as the expenses were covered by the monies received from a weekly second collection and other donations from parishioners.In 2016, the committee received the names of several architectural firms and began interviewing them to determine which would be the best fit for the parish. In April of 2017, they settled on the firm of Spencer, Sullivan and Voyt of Cambridge, and Fr. Ray deferred on deciding since he was retiring in a matter of weeks and felt it was a decision more appropriately left for the new pastor. When Fr. Peter Joyce arrived that summer as the new pastor, he helped the committee to define its scope and help determine a plan as he and the parish moved forward in hiring Spencer, Sullivan and Voyt to assess the needs of the building and develop drawings for a fundraiser. One of the first decisions was to identify that this would be a renovation rather than a restoration. A restoration would imply that the original structure and or appearance would be reconstituted. However, many of the most valued aspects of our current church setting, the stained glass windows, the stations of the cross and their frames and the large marble reredos are not original to the church but installed over time from 1910 to 1950. So the committee took its identity and mission as a Renovation Committee.
As the Diocese of Worcester began its Legacy of Hope campaign in the spring of 2018, the parish was allowed to yoke its special renovation project to the diocesan campaign. In turn, the parish would assume the cost of the fundraising effort including specialized materials for the renovation and an assessment of $435,028 to be paid in 16 quarterly installments from September 2019 to the summer of 2022. The project now moved from a vision and idea to planning and organizing the renovation. Much detail needed to be set in place for the organization and printing of a brochure and the scheduling of receptions to explain the concept and get parishioners on board with pledges for a four year period. The campaign was established with three different goals, a firm need of $1.5 million, a wish goal of $2 million and a challenge goal of $2.5 million. The committee ventured to these waters knowing that even this was not enough. All of the needed work would cost over $3 million, especially since at the last planning meeting before printing the brochure the magnificent Cathedral of Notre Dame in Parish burned from renovations that ignited a fire in the attic there. The question was raised, and is still not answered, if the parish would be required to install a sprinkler system in the attic to prevent a similar accident in Milford. Nonetheless, the brochure was printed with the wish list of all aspects realizing that initial costs estimates would change to real figures depending on when and who was contracted for the work.Project Budget Estimates Work to be performed estimated cost actual cost Fundraising expenses $100,000 $87,271.58 Architectural design $40,000 Stained Glass window repairs (removal & restoration of nave windows) $240,000 HVAC (new heating and air conditioning system using heat pumps) $500,000 Electrical, illumination & fire suppression (does not include sprinkler system for the attic) $200,000 Legacy of Hope Payments $435,028 Pew refinishing & wainscot $107,000 Asbestos Abatement & demolition of previous heating system $60,000 $45,982 -
1st Quarter Report of July 31, 2019
Line item Expense Income Balance in the account on May 1st $149,520 2nd collections in May $ 6,473 Fee to Guidance in Giving (GIG) $74,791 Printing, postage & receptions $14,576 2nd collections in June $ 6,580 Total pledges as of July 31st $1,492,800 Architect fees paid to SSV
(Spencer, Sullivan & Vogt)$39,170 2nd collections in July $ 5,303 Payments to campaign $441,342 Total cash on hand (July 31st) $587,276 Balance due on pledges ($998,399) Outstanding amount for Legacy of Hope due quarterly to the diocese ($435,000) Balance for renovation $1,150,675 -
Phase I Winter of 2019 & Spring of 2020
The committee reviewed the needs of the building, the temperment of the parish, and the available funds and determined that rather than wait for all of the funds to be received or to borrow against them and incur a debt and interest, to divide the project into different phases over the coming years that would begin to reap results from peoples' contributions as well as improve the comfort of the building even before painting could begin.
The first phase occurred in December of 2019 when the parish was presented with a unique opportunity to purchase a demonstration model of an electronic organ at a 25 % savings. Initially considering to buy it on a payment schedule, it was eventually determined to save the interest and purchase it outright. The new wiring and installation occurred in December of 2019 in time for the Christmas celebrations in the parish.
The next part of this phase was to remove the asbestos that covered the heating system in the lower church. This abatement was performed by Atlantic Abatement of Rhode Island during the shut down during the coronavirus pandemic in May of 2020 at a cost of $42,000. Their scope of work included the removal of asbestos covering the pipes, the demolition of the heating system including the removal of all the radiators and the demolition of the previous steam boiler.
To remove the radiators, the pews that stood along the side walls of the nave were removed to be refinished. This work has been contracted with Lloyd's Woodworking of Hudson. The finish the committee selected is virtually identical to the current color and the kneelers will be recovered in a neutral colored vinyl covering. This firm has also been selected to fabricate the new wood wainscotting that will camoflauge the new mechanicals for the new heating and cooling system.
Stained Glass Resources, Inc., was chosen by the committee to renew and repair the priceless Mayer Munich windows that line the nave. The four center windows on the south side of the building were removed the week before the COVID-19 shut down and were expected mid-July, but the pandemic has pushed the return date to mid-September due to the changes in working hours and availability of staff during the pandemic.
The main part of Phase I will be the installation of new mechanicals for heating and cooling the church and the electrical service to support it. To provide for the installation of this equipment the trees between the church and the parish hall were removed in June of 2020 by All Pro Tree Service of Framingham. The electrical work will be completed by Favulli Electrical of Shrewsbury and the HVAC by Victory of Bellingham. A difference of opinion between the engineers involved brought all parties to the table to reassess the electrical service to the property. -
Summer of 2020
As the summer wore on, so did our waiting. There was a need for new prints, discussion and changes to the bids provided and the equipment that would be needed. One of the critical questions involved the power that the parish needed to run the new system. Its previous system was virtually maxed out with the first proposal so when it was determined that more BTUs would need to be produced to keep the church comfortable in the event of a difficult New England winter, there was a need to increase the electrical service to the building. It was finally determined to upgrade from the current 400 amp service to a 600 amp service, but that would require a transformer on a pole, a new line to that transformer on Sumner Street and a new transformer on our building.
In the meantime, we moved our services to the Large hall for daily Mass, returning each weekend for our Masses and the opportunity to check the progress of the work. Funerals could be held in the hall, but families preferred instead to have them celebrated at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church here in Milford. With generous hospitality, Fr. Scioli allowed us the use of his parish on several occasions as we bid farewell to our beloved brothers and sisters and commended their souls to the Lord and his merciful embrace.
Victory went right to work, ordering the units, and installing them along the side walls of the nave. Favulli was right with them to wire power and connect them to the eventual service that would be offered. As well, they were running conduits and wires for a new fire alarm system, new and improved lights, and other infrastructure to our beloved church. With the units in place, before they were operational, we had a mock up of the proposed wainscot to determine how to access the filters and allow service to the units when it might be needed. Units were also installed in the lower church. For the first time ever, it would a separately controlled system. Previously, the heat in the lower church was the residual heat from the steam pipes that ran along the ceiling to heat the upper church. On really cold days, it made the lower church a steam bath and unbearable as the heat made its way to the upper regions of the building. Now, it has its own units and a separate thermostat to make it comfortable and thoroughly modern for our worship and praise.
As one would expect, not everything went perfectly, but at the end of October, National Grid had run the necessary lines and installed the required transforms so that the increased power came to our church and we were able to power up our new system and heat the church. The weekend of Halloween and All Saints, the day after the first snow of the season, we had a warm and comfortable church as people enjoyed a church so warm that someone wanted to complain that it was too hot! Since then the electricians are busy with the fire alarm system, new lights in vestibule, photo sensitive lights at every entrance and other infrastructure. The week of November 16th, the wainscot arrived and began to be installed to camoflague the heating units and create finished and elegant appearance to our church once again.
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Winter of 2020 to 2021
By the Thanksgiving holiday, the basic structure of the wainscot was in place, and the pews were returned for every other row. This would eliminate the need to install and then remove them for the use of the lift to install new lighting and fans. These elements of the renovation were delayed until after the holidays since some of the fixtures were backordered. Rather than rent the lift twice, which would expensive, it was decided to delay the installation until all the fixtures were in place and the lift would need to be rented only once.
After the first of the new year of 2021, weekday Masses moved back to the large hall and our workmen took over the church every Monday through Friday to install the new lights. These lights have made a huge difference in the ability to see and appreciate the beautiful architectural lines of our church. New spotlights for the sanctuary, brighter and more intense lights in the ceiling, spotlights for each individual station and new lighting in the vestibule and lower church have made for a nearly new church to one's eyes.
A new fire alarm system, using an infrared beam from the choirloft to the sanctuary makes our church much safer. This new system upgraded the units in the bell tower as well while installing fixtures for the first time in the attic. In addition to these new sensors, the system was separated from the center so that each system now works independently. A fire alarm in one building will not sound in the other; that means burnt bacon at a Sunday morning breakfast won't need to empty the church during a morning Mass! This new system was tested and approved by the Milford Fire Department who were on site to activate the system. The former system has been removed since then. By the first week of March, the only outstanding aspect of the project was the accent lighting in the lower church. The new soffits were not code compliant and the building inspector made a change that delayed the final construction of these elements. Once they are finished, the electricians will be back on site and the Phase One will be officially completed! In under a year, around 11 months and with a budget of less than a million dollars. The parish can be proud that all of this work is not only done but paid for and these aspects of the renovation will last beyond the lifetime of all but the younger members of our parish who are still in school.