SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED, LOTS OF BLUE!

One of the most important factors in the design of the new space was to incorporate the past history of our church wherever possible.  We thought you would like to hear about the details!

SOMETHING OLD
We tried to repurpose different items to honor their place from the past.  Here are some of the highlights:
1) THE BLACK MARBLE--Installed in the 1950's, the portoro marble is beautiful but the decision was made to remove it to lighten and brighten the sanctuary. We had it cut and fitted to adorn the baptismal font, the ledge of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, the counter of the Welcome Center, and the top of the credence table on the altar.

2)  THE ALTARS--both the altars and the side shrines are the same ones that were there before the renovation (we think they were also installed in the 1950's).  They have new wood facades built around them to create a warmer look.  If you examine them closely, you will see that the marble tops are exposed on all and the black marble of the back altar shows through.
3)  THE HANGING LIGHT FIXTURE--that was in the Main Street vestibule now adorns the sacristy.  It's beautiful!

4)  THE STATIONS--The Stations of the Cross are actually a combination of old and new.  The square part inside the frame is our original hand carved wood station (donated by the Catholic Daughters in the 1950's) but as you might recall they were wood toned (see the photo on the left).  They have been painted and gilded to bring out their beauty by Conrad Schmitt Studio artists.  The frames were made (new) by Gunder Church Furniture in Iowa to give them a more gothic feel and to mimic the very original stations in our church which (according to old photographs) were large oil paintings in frames.

5) THE ST. FRANCIS de SALES STATUE--Originally set in a niche in original altar of our church,  for the past 10 years or so he was in various places.  He was in the garage of the rectory, in a parish office, and spent some time at the entrance of the school.  His fingers were broken and he was missing his quill pen. He has been restored and now has a respectful spot in the entrance to our church, greeting all those who enter.
6) THE ARCH--The original arch that was over the door to the original entrance has been updated and beautiful new doors have been installed beneath it, making it once again the gateway into our church.
7) THE HANGING GOTHIC LIGHTS--While not original, they have been there for a very long time.  They were cleaned, polished, painted, and received new wiring and light bulbs.
8) THE PEWS--We are quite sure that the pews are original (1896).  They were repaired where needed, sanded, stained and re-finished. 
9) THE PRESIDER'S CHAIR--Recently donated by Fr. Tom Fait, we loved the gothic look and not only kept it but used it as a model for some of the woodwork patterns on the reredos and altar.

10) CHILDREN OF THE WORLD MEMORIAL--This was in the back on the east wall but it was hard to see.  It's now on the west wall with new lighting.  We love how it fits in so well by the baptismal font.
11) MARY, JOSEPH, and THE CRUCIFIX--Also installed at the same time as the stations of the cross in the 1950's, these were beautifully hand carved of wood from Austria.  They have been painted as well and re-installed in their rightful spots (Mary and Joseph are coming soon!).
12) THE REREDOS--We had the woodworkers take our old reredos and add on to it with spires, a gothic arch and buttresses to make a new look!  The corpus is the same but it has a new cross.

SOMETHING NEW
Many new things have come to SFDS!  Probably the biggest thing is the beautiful new stained glass window of the sacred heart over the altar.  There is a lot of new lighting including 2 chandeliers, the back lighting of the 2 "dark" stained glass windows, new lights in the chapel, entry, breezeway, sacristy, and outside.  There is new directional lighting over the sanctuary and new spotlights over the shrine were installed. Of course the baptismal font is new as well as a lot of the furniture up on the altar.  New arm chairs for the handicapped, new choir chairs, new porcelain tile flooring are all part of the renovation.  There is new carpeting in the sacristy, chapel, and entrances.  There is a now a hearing loop under the tile and the carpet. And of course our beautiful organ is brand new which has a full and amazing sound.  We have a new Divine Mercy framed picture in the chapel and coming soon is a new Our Lady of Guadalupe statue. Our sound system (new in 2016) has been tweaked and adjusted to accommodate the new acoustics of our new space.  More new things to come!
SOMETHING BORROWED
We temporarily have the Our Lady of Guadalupe print in the shrine area while we await the arrival of the new statue from Italy.  We're borrowing the cabinet doors in the welcome center until the ones come in that are the right color. 
LOTS OF BLUE
Blue seemed to be the natural theme color for our church.  The feeling of the soaring ceiling to the heavens as well as the tranquility of blue in nature made it an obvious choice.

Thank you for all of the support and patience in our new space!  We're still adjusting a few things and appreciate your feedback.