News - St. Albert the Great Master Plan RSS Feed

We’re off! Last weekend at all parish masses our building faith campaign was announced and the latest images and a 3-D model of our parish campus we’re located in the Wallings entrance of the church. The executive committee of the campaign was also published in our parish bulletin last week. Please see below the generous families and individuals who have committed to leading this exciting campaign for the future of Saint Albert the Great.

Early on in our planning for the new Parish Life Center several members of the parish brought this desire to memorialize Fr. Viall in our new Parish Life Center. This idea was met with enthusiasm among the leadership of our Building Faith Campaign. We remembered that Fr. Winters was remembered in the "new gymnasium" shortly after he retired by in 1978. In fact, the gym was named Winters Hall in him memory.

In the summer of 2016 the master plan subcommittee established the "laundry list" of needs and desires confronting our parish ministries.  On that list were large captial expenditures that would have to be taken care of in 3-5 years.  The largest single item on that list was the deteriorating parking lots and driveways on all of our property. 

Since 2013, the beginning of our Vision 2016 “Every One Add One”, our Saint Albert ministries to the poor, have grown exponentially. With the encouragement and the planning of our parish pastoral Council, the number of justice and compassion ministries grew from four to today over 30 different ministries.  This growing parish ministry is known in North Royalton, in the Diocese of Cleveland and all the way to El Salvador as a shining light of charity, justice, and compassion. Our 30+ justice and compassion ministries, hundreds of our parishioners, and God’s grace are responsible for all of this grace and love.

Many of the people who have considered the "Building Faith: A New Generation" proposal  have immediately asked, "where will the priests live?".  That question is one that has challenged us as a parish since our founding 60 years ago.  Fr. Winters lived in the original farmhouse (in the current parking lot C) from 1959 until his death in 1983.  In 1977 when Fr. Viall arrived he quickly built a priest house in St. Thomas Woods (directly behind the church building). In 1982, the Humility of Mary Sisters ended their ministry at St. Albert, and Fr. Viall had their 1964 convent renovated into the current parish offices and priest residence.

How will this proposal benefit the children of the parish, especiallythose using our school building? One of the three major factors that prompted a Master Planning Process was the need for new and appropriate space inside the current school building. First, an architect we consulted back in 2014 identified the current priest garages as an economical and convenient fix to our need for classrooms, etc. The relocation of the priests to a new residence will open up that garage space for this growth.

A parishioner asked to what extent the proposed Building Faith plan would serve the senior population of the parish. That is a great question and the answer below might surprise you.

Dear Saint Albert Family, “Building Faith: a New Generation“ is the name and the invitation of our parish master plan. Building Faith is a great description of what Saint Albert Catholic community has done over the 60 years since our founding. Building Faith is the challenge facing our community today and into the future. Building Faith is the essence of this master plan presented in the following four pages. Please join me today in being grateful for all that has been and being hopeful about what we can do, with God’s help and your cooperation, as we serve the needs, hopes, and dreams of the church now and for a new generation.