The Marian Hall renovation came out better than even I could have imagined. Our team is doing the finishing touches this week.
This process started in 2019 when we replaced the original roof. In January 2020, the Ali Center came online, which meant we could take Marian Hall offline to renovate. So I submitted a grant to renovate Marian Hall to the Harry S. & Isabel C. Cameron Foundation. Our goal was to replace the rotted siding and make the bathrooms wheelchair accessible. Upon being awarded the grant, it was the summer of 2020, and our staff size was already reduced in half due to COVID layoffs. Praise be to God that three men step forward to take the lead in the spring of 2021 to renovate the exterior siding of Marian Hall. The men reached out to their fellow parishioners (a group known as St. Paul and friends) and completed the exterior siding in record time! Another man stepped forward with some fellow ACTS brothers from Mary Queen, and they removed the interior wood paneling and began hanging sheetrock inside Marian Hall.
To teach the Faith, we decided to install 18 stained glass windows to teach Mary's role in Salvation History and introduce some of the American Saints. In 3-weeks, all the Stain Glass Windows films were purchased and were installed in August 2021. During this process, the CRC staff was running retreats or other time-sensitive Maintenance projects, so our staff was unable to focus on the interior of Marian Hall until January 2022. Our team has been working to transform the interior, and I think you will be amazed. We have also had our Missionary staff and volunteers help paint the exterior to have it ready in time!
Our grand re-opening is on Thursday, March 24, at 7 PM. We invite you to join us on the eve of the Solemnity of the Annunciation as we pray a rosary asking our Lady's intercession for the CRC and the world. The candlelit rosary procession will begin and end in Marian Hall. This event is FREE and open to everyone. We have been giving tease photos on Facebook and will share pictures after this event on Facebook of the totally renovated space. We hope you will join us and pray with us!!!
Thanks to our staff and volunteers, this entire renovation will be completed for under $50,000 (roof, siding, windows, flooring, spiritual direction meeting room, stain glass window films, wheelchair-accessible bathrooms, new tables, and chairs, etc.). We really do stretch your donor dollars further as we strive to be the best stewards of the resources God has entrusted to our care.
Thank you for sharing our vision to renovate the CRC so that the space can draw people into a deeper relationship with God and His Church through our renovations of Theology in Stone. Check out the Marian Hall Video online at https://youtu.be/lBB_0E-Le48