The remark about the archbishop signing the contract on the $11.4 million pretty clearly implies that this had been undertaken under the structure the visitor in yesterday's post explained, with the parish funding half the amount and the archdiocese securing a mortgage for the other half. But within almost exactly a year, the archbishop removed Fr Philips. Personnel issues are confidential, and most speculation about the removal has involved Fr Phillips's failure to report the credible allegations of abuse against Dcn Orr.
But I've got to wonder if something went seriously awry with the school project as well. The blog post from 2014 quoted yesterday isn't completely clear. ". . . we have continued to revise our plans and have elected to build the entire complex, including the auditorium shell, though it will not be finished-out when construction is completed." Does this refer to the whole project not being finished out, including the classrooms and so forth, or just the auditorium? Was something sufficiently unclear that it prompted the archbishop to remove Fr Phillips? Who knows? But I lean toward the idea there was a con of some sort in operation there, and Abp Gustavo was forced to act.
My regular correspondent omments,
I would bet that $4 million dollars is what OLA believes will complete the roughed-in building expansion. I agree that the process is far less transparent than it would be in a denomination with more congregational accountability, and no one has come forward with evidence that they have a professional quality fundraising program in place (indeed, as the most recent bulletin suggested, regular giving is off “drastically” this month). But I assume they got some kind of professional opinion on what it would cost to finish the job in accordance with the original plan.The OLA bulletin for this past Sunday contains this message:
With Masses being suspended it is going to take a special effort on your part to assure the parish remains financial sound. Our current giving for the month is drastically less than usual. Please keep current with your giving.All I can say is that I've been around the block enough times not to be surprised at how incompetence manifests. People who can't function do it in ways you don't expect -- which is to say, you expect people to exhibit normal ability, but when they don't, it's a surprise. I would not be surprised at anything that's been overlooked, forgotten, left out, sneaked in, stolen, covered up, or whatever else in this project. Look at the whole context of the parish's history.
Another visitor commented on my view that the unfinished building is both a fire and safety hazard:
It’s not a fire hazard. Think of a a strip mall you have seen built. They are built with an unfinished inside because tenants are going to fill the lease spaces. But you’re right about there not being much specifics about the project.Except that any unsupervised space in this day and age is an invitation to homeless and squatters. Our own diocesan parish, with two schools, discovered that homeless managed to sneak into one of the buildings during ordinary entry and exit traffic and stay there over a weekend, which resulted in major revision of security precautions. You do not want homeless squatting in a school building, believe me. The risks of such an unsupervised space at the Atonement Academy boggle the mind.
And if homeless can sneak in, they'll start fires. Sorry. I would also check out what sort of insurance coverage the parish's policies actually provide for the unoccupied space.
Incompetence by its nature ought to be a surprise, although if it isn't, it's just a bigger form of incompetence.
