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Community Center Updates:

4/30/08 - On Tuesday, April 24th, St. Anthony’s was granted temporary occupancy of our new Community Center. Fr. Rob presided over a prayer service with the school children on April 28th. While this is very exciting news, we want everyone to please join us for the official dedication. Bishop John Steinbock will officiate the blessing on May 25 at 12:00pm. So, please mark your calendars and join us for the long awaited event. This is a very exciting time in our parish’s life and we want all of you to be a part of the celebration.

7/15/07 - Dear Friends,

I am writing to thank each of you for your generosity over the last three years. So many of you have given donations, shared your talents or offered prayers for our parish building project, other projects or general stewardship. Most everyone is aware of our continued efforts as a parish to raise needed funds. Many of you are not aware that previous pastors and parishioners, including school families, have been securing donations and organizing fund raisers for the past 10 years planning for capital improvements. Over $1,500,000.00 has been raised. Three years ago, you the people of this vibrant parish pledged $3,900,000.00 for the community center. Many of you have paid your pledge and some have added to your amount. Due to delays in the project beyond our control, another $900,000.00 is needed to complete the project. We will continue to ask for help from those who feel compelled to donate. If you have given, please know we appreciate your help. If you have not yet given, please consider being a part of this community project that will benefit the entire parish. Please know that the finance council not only is working extra on the building project, but they are monitoring funds so our ministries in our parish flourish to meet your needs.

Gratefully in Christ,
Tom Neumeier
Financial Administrator

6/03/07 - Dear Friends,

I am writing to thank each of you for your generosity over the last three years. So many of you have given donations, shared your talents or offered prayers for our parish building project, other projects or general stewardship. Most everyone is aware of our continued efforts as a parish to raise needed funds. Many of you are not aware that previous pastors and parishioners, including school families, have been securing donations and organizing fund raisers for the past 10 years planning for capital improvements. Over $1,500,000.00 has been raised. Three years ago, you the people of this vibrant parish pledged $3,900,000.00 for the community center. Many of you have paid your pledge and some have added to your amount. Due to delays in the project beyond our control, another $900,000.00 is needed to complete the project. We will continue to ask for help from those who feel compelled to donate. If you have given, please know we appreciate your help. If you have not yet given, please consider being a part of this community project that will
benefit the entire parish. Please know that the finance council not only is working extra on the building project, but they are monitoring funds so our ministries in our parish flourish to meet your needs.

Gratefully in Christ,
Tom Neumeier
Financial Administrator

3/25/07 - Our Community Center gives all of us another complete set of challenges. As the steel arrives, we will view the exciting progress on the building. The cost factor has increased and I want to express my gratitude to our building committee for their constant vigilance on these matters. Mr. Tom Neumeier, Mr. John Ferdinandi, Mr. John Bonadelle and Mr. Frank Cornell have my respect and gratitude for all of their hard work. On the first Sunday of each month, beginning in May, we will have a second collection to assist in covering the increased costs due to fuel increases, labor and building costs. More information will be presented to the parish in the coming weeks.

1/31/07 - The cement foundation has been poured and the steel frames are being fabricated. The street lighting, side walk improvements and reconfiguring of the driveways are beginning to take place. Thank you for your patience, support and prayers.

12/03/06 - In our Thanksgiving bulletin we publicized that we are continuing our, “Celebrating the Past & Responding to The Future” campaign. And as promised, we are pleased to announce that everyone who has shared his or her gifts of “Time, Talent and/or Treasure” will be acknowledged. The names of All the St. Anthony’s families and friends that have contributed to the Community Center Building Fund will be placed in a Memorial Donor Book, the School and Church websites and published in a special parish bulletin. Once pledges are completed, all donors will receive a copy of the Memorial Donor Book. In addition, levels of giving have been created for acknowledgment on a Donor Wall that will be located in the lobby of our new Community Center.

This Donor Wall will designate different levels of giving. The following options include membership in the new St. Anthony’s, ‘The Legacy Club’. These options will provide your family name to be a part of the legacy for future generations.

Legacy Member
$50,000 - $100,000

Heritage Member
$25,000 - $49,999

Guardian Member
$15,000 - $24,999

Trustee Member
$5,000 - $14,999

Sponsor Member
$1,000 - $4,999

Courtyard Member
$150.00 to $999.00
This level allows you to have a personalized brick placed in the existing school courtyard near the Church parking lot.

Our St. Anthony’s School Families have already made additional pledges of over $300,000. At this time, we are asking , You, our St. Anthony’s Family, to consider continuing your faithful and generous support in this endeavor. We have created new, 2006 Commitment Cards, and have placed them in the Church pews. We graciously and prayerfully ask for your help to either, extend your Existing Pledge, make a One Time donation or make a New Pledge. For questions or comments regarding the Capital Campaign, please feel free to call our Campaign Coordinator, Cathi @ 439-0124, extension 173. May the peace and love of Christ be with you as you make your decision. As we approach the end of the year, we kindly remind you that all donations are tax deductible.

11/26/06 - As noted in passed bulletins, we are finally beginning construction of our new Community Center!! This is such an exciting time for everyone who has been involved with the planning and organizing of the actual building and the raising of funds to support this much needed building. Our new Community Center will be able to fill so many gaps, assist so many people, provide us with more room and most importantly give us just one more reason to Thank and Praise God, for everything. The construction is well on its way, with progress on the plumbing and electrical and we are getting close to laying concrete and asphalt. We promised to share our plans for closing the financial gap we are now faced with, due to the delays in construction. complete project. With this being said, we are very happy and so pleased to share with you that our very own St. Anthony’s School Families have responded to this financial call for help and have pledged over $300,000, more in donations. We would like to extend a very sincere and grateful thank you to all of our St. Anthony’s School Families !!! St. Anthony’s has been so blessed by the Christian stewardship demonstrated by our school families. Many of these families extended their existing pledge, made an additional one time pledge, or, which we very excited & happy to see, made their initial pledge!! Please see our next bulletin for information about the new focus of our Campaign, “Celebrating The Past & Responding To The Future”. If you haven’t seen the construction site lately, take a look. All kinds of progress is being made!

10/15/06 - As of October 4th, the new building dirt pad is complete and they are now working on the underground facilities. This includes but is not limited to storm drains, electrical, gas, sewer, etc. Digging has also begun for footings for the concrete and other site work is being completed. As mentioned in past bulletins, thank you for your patience during the construction of our new building. We understand the frustrations some people have shared with us regarding parking. As with any building under construction, there are inconveniences we must all deal with. Praying always helps! Our continued thanks for your faithful contributions.

9/24/06 - We are now on our way to building our new Community Center thanks to all of your generous contributions. Your prayers and faithful dedication to this project is greatly appreciated and absolutely none of this could have been accomplished without each and every one of you! Due to delays with the neighbors and their attorney, the cost for the construction of our Community Center has increased.

The following statement was a requirement written into the final agreement proposed by the opposing neighbors.

“Joint Press Release - The Parties shall make a press release regarding the join resolution of this matter. The press release will address the resulting improved project appearance and area traffic circulation as well as the mutual benefit to all parties. The press release will be placed in the St. Anthony’s Church Bulletin and will provide as follows:”

“St. Anthony’s of Padua, the Diocese of Fresno and the Maroa Browning Neighborhood Association (MBNA) are pleased to announce that the lawsuit filed by the MBNA over the construction of the new event center has been resolved. As part of the settlement, traffic circulation for the site and landscaping have been improved for the betterment of our church, school and neighborhood.”

Agreements for sub-contracting are being secured at this time and weekly meetings are occurring to meet all the necessary deadlines and timelines. We will continue to provide information as it becomes available. Please continue to pray for the safety and guidance of everyone involved with the construction of our much awaited, Community Center.

9/03/06 - Dear Parishioners, Last Sunday, August 27th, we dedicated and blessed the construction site for the new Parish Community Center. As we looked among those in attendance, it struck all of us how much history both in the land, the buildings and especially the precious people, both living and deceased, have allowed us to get to this tremendous point. We were able to use a shovel for this groundbreaking that was used by Msgr. Patrick Flood on Easter Sunday, 1966 as he broke ground with his Finance Council and parishioners to build our church which was completed in 1968. And now we will journey together to build a facility to use for so many future events and community parish activities. The auxiliary classrooms/meeting rooms and gym will serve to help us fulfill our goals to educate, evangelize and support our children and all generations. I ask for your continued prayers and I know that from your clergy and staff of the parish and school, how grateful we are for your support and encouragement. I am grateful to all the chairs committees, and staff who have worked so hard behind the scenes to help us with the entire process. I pledge to keep you informed of the progress both in the building phase and the financial phase. If any of you have any inquiries concerning the building, please place those concerns in writing to our building committee, or e-mail to ckeener@stanthonyfresno.org and your inquiries will be sent to the proper committee member for reply. I ask for your patience, especially in the parking lot, and ask for extra care as you arrive and depart. Msgr. John Coelho-Harguindeguy, Pastor

Community Center Blessing Ceremony - Click here to view photos from the Groundbreaking ceremony.

On Sunday, August 27, 2006, the ground on which our new Community Center will be built, was blessed by our Pastor, Msgr. John, with Fr. Blessing and Deacon Ed. Tom Neumeier, Vice Principal of St. Anthony’s School was our Master of Ceremonies for the celebration. After the prayer and blessing , Monsignor John, Fr. Loren Blessing, Deacon Ed, Zetta Hadden (Facilities Committee), John Ferdinandi (Building Committee), Shawn Carey (St. Anthony’s School Principal) and Max Shuh (former student body president - St. Anthony's school), picked up their shovels waving blue and yellow ribbons, turning over the dirt in celebration! Also present representing Engineering and Construction were: Mike Cantelmi, Rod Andreason and Frank Cornell. Regrets were received by John Bonadelle (Building Committee), Doug DuRivage (Diocese Property Department) and Msgr. Flood (former Pastor of St. Anthony’s). After the ceremony, the St. Anthony’s PTO hosted by Tamara Chapman and Amber Donny provided everyone with bottled water, beautiful valley grown grapes and pretzels. We would like to thank all our family and friends that have made this dream a reality by sharing their gifts of time, talent and treasures.

7/30/06 - This past June we announced via the bulletin, that the asbestos would be removed from the old Religious Education office, (formerly the rectory), and the School Faculty lounge. Removal of asbestos from older buildings is mandatory prior to demolition. We are very happy to announce that demolition of the old religious education office was completed last week and the faculty lounge will be next. This is another huge step toward the construction of our much needed new community center. And although we can’t wait to start making new memories in our new building, there are many students, teachers, staff and parishioners that have memories from the old buildings. Let us pray that all memories, both old and new, are carried in our hearts forever. Let us also continue to pray for everyone involved in the construction of our new community center. May God grant us serenity to accept the things we cannot change, Courage to change the things we can, and Wisdom to know the difference.

5/21/06 - We thought it might be a good time to provide everyone with a brief reminder of why we are building our new Community Center & what it will offer our Parish.

WHY? The decision to build a new community center was based on the current and future needs of our school and parish. St. Anthony’s parish has been blessed with a growing number of Catholics and we need more room to accommodate the growing needs of our many ministries and groups. This center will allow us to have a new, clean and updated
place to meet, teach, share our faith and have fun with our families and friends.
WHAT?
• A brand new gymnasium
• Bleacher seating
• Additional classrooms for our ministries and special classes
• Flexible space based on program requirements
• Additional Restrooms
• Baby sitting room
• Concession space
• Parish Lounge
• Upgrades to our current kitchen facility and much more

Attorneys for the Diocese of Fresno along with our St. Anthony’s attorney have been working with the attorney for the Browning Maroa Neighborhood Association, to finalize issues. We have the electrical permit and will continue to pursue the additional permits necessary for the building. Please continue with your prayers for a successful and speedy resolution, so we can start to build and use our much needed Community Center!! May the Holy Spirit fill the hearts & minds of all the people involved in this project.

4/16/06 - All of the revised architectural plans have been returned to the City of Fresno for a final check. The diocese, staff and lawyers have been working very hard to provide a settlement regarding the neighborhood’s concerns on traffic & landscaping. We will inform you on further developments. Thank you for your continued spiritual and financial support.

3/5/06 - It Is our great pleasure to announce that as of 2/21/2006,
we have collected over $2 million towared the construction of our Beautiful New Community Center! This spectacular achievement has only been made possible by our Wonderful, Faithful & Ever So Generous, St. Anthony’s Family & Friends! Many, Many, Thanks to everyone who has kept their commitment in making their pledge payments, shared their time, talents and prayers for the safe, smooth and successful construction of our new building. Everyday, we continue to see the growing needs of our Faith Community with Outreach Programs, Religious Education Classes for both Children and Adults, School Functions, Youth Programs and
Opportunities and Masses to address the Cultural Diversity of our Parish.
Just think of it, a safe, warm, friendly, faithful and peaceful environment, which will enable us to meet not only the present needs of our Faith Community, but provide the space necessary for us to meet God’s plans for the future. There’s No Place Like Our Own, Parish Home.

11/6/05 - It has been more than a year now that our Building Fund Capital Campaign has been underway. Our Capital Campaign has been blessed with over 1300 people that have provided this Campaign with their Time, Talents and Treasures. We have had so many wonderful people share their time and talent by making phone calls, mailing pink envelopes, preparing statements and all of the other tasks necessary to ensure a successful campaign. For our friends sharing their treasures, whether the contributions are made on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly or one time basis, the unselfish, faithful, timely and generous support from all of these wonderful parishioners has enabled us to reach a new high of $1,749,823!! Thank you again for your time, talent, treasures and patience!!

9/21/05 - Fresno Planning Commission Meeting

8/28/05 - As mentioned in past bulletins, there are a few neighbors opposing our new Community Center which regrettably, has delayed the start of this wonderful project. The process of obtaining our permit is now at a standstill as we again await the City’s review of the opposing letters. We hope to have a decision from the City sometime in September,. However, if we continue to meet with opposition, we will, again, be unable to begin breaking ground of our new Community Center until later in the year.

7/17/05 - The status of the new building is still pending the City's approval, but we anticipate hearing from them soon so we can begin construction. Your generous gifts to the building fund continue to come in faithfully. Our new Community Center will be a place for all of us, built by all of us.

6/19/05 - Bulletin Update on Community Center:

• Design Phase Status - Rod Andreasen, AIA of Temple, Anderson and Moore - Completed
• Construction General Contractor - facility will be managed by Frank Cornell of CDI Construction
• Conditional Use Permit - We are in the process of meeting with some of the neighbors opposing the CUP, to address their concerns and clear the way for approval of the CUP and thus, the permit, to start construction. This opposition, regrettably, can cause delays of up to three months of our original start time.
• Bidding Process - Commencing upon completion of plans

5/27/05 - Letter from Tom Neumeier to surrounding neighbors providing Community Center information - click here to read this letter.

For additional information, please contact our
Capital Campaign Coordinator,
Cathi Keener at
439-0124 ext. 173.

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