The gathering . . . no fewer than a dozen vehicles surround the ServPro semi-trailer just east of Sacred Heart Church in Lawrence. Representatives from the State Fire Marshall and Insurance Companies and Fire Investigators gathered Tuesday in Lawrence to finalize their inquiry into the fire in Sacred Heart Church on October 12.
Construction . . .
Renovation . . .
Restoration/Mitigation . . .
Three or four words on the minds of a lot of Lawrence area residents along with Lawrence area natives, friends and relatives.
The construction concerns are primarily with the proposed building of a community center for the village while the renovation, restoration and mitigation concerns deal with the ongoing restoration effort and recent fire at the Sacred Heart Church. A brief rundown on each project.
Community Center: The November meeting of the Community Center Building Committee was held last Wednesday. The vast majority of the committee members were present for the meeting.
Most of the meeting concerned fund raising. More than $50,000 has been added to the fund in 2023 to date. The money came from a variety of efforts. One major item was the fund raiser held last Spring. The solicitation letter had a good response and other donations from a variety of people were received. The present amount of money on account is more than $660,000.
Planning for the future includes a repeat of the 'Dueling Pianos' exhibition from last year. The event will include the prime rib dinner along with a raffle and other fund raising events that took place. More information and availability of tickets will be coming at a later date.
The layout of the new building was discussed as well.
As usual, the committee encouraged donations from any source. With the end of the year coming, they encouraged anyone maybe wanting to take advantage of income tax charitable donations deductions the community building is a qualified project. Also any other fund raising ideas were solicited.
Sacred Heart Church: In the five weeks since the fire damage was done to the Catholic Church in Lawrence, it may seem there has been little obvious work done at the church. However, that impression would be incorrect.
A great deal of 'behinds the scene' work has been done. This week the insurance companies and all that includes were to conclude discussions and give the 'go-ahead' for the mitigation of the fire damage. There has been some necessary activity taking place.
ServPro has been on scene for a number of weeks and some items that were considered 'salvageable' have been picked up and taken to their service center for cleanup and restoration. It appears that much (but not all) of what was in the basement was damaged to some extent and will be replaced.
Contractors are being contacted and decisions will be made shortly on who and when work will be started.
On a positive note, it appears that experts expect the murals above the side altars can be salvaged and restored.
Last Sunday evening, Bishop Conley, Bishop of the Lincoln diocese, visited Lawrence to view the damage and meet with representatives of the parish. While religious and administrative details of the church have been handled by a variety of priests over these past five weeks, it was announced that Father Adam Sparling of Campbell and Blue Hill will be available to residents of the Lawrence area in the future. Father Walsh of Lincoln is expected to continue weekend Masses, but Father Sparling could be available for other needs.
Bishop Conley assured everyone everything necessary is being dealt with as best and as quickly as possible at the Diocese level as well as at the local level. "Losses of this size and scope just take time to be corrected." He noted that the parish, its residents and the community were in the prayers of many people in Lincoln and around the diocese. The evening was concluded with a prayer by the Bishop for blessings for the parish and all its members.
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