Now, two years into the construction of the Immaculata Church Project, the exterior of the church is 99% complete and the interior is at about 75%. This monthly update video brings us up to speed with what is taking place inside the church, now that the scaffolding has been removed.

The current phase of work is focused on the stonework, both with the marble columns and the flooring.

Transcript of the Video

[Bill Drew] Welcome back to the Immaculata Church Project here in St. Marys, Kansas. Today we are going to give you an update on construction progress and where we are going in the next few months.

Well, here we are, two years into the project. Two years ago, Kris and his superintendents were in the basement setting the points for the foundation, and now here we are with the full exterior complete and about 75% of the interior complete.

So as I mentioned in the last video, the ceiling artwork was complete and most of the scaffolding was still up. Now you can see behind me here the scaffolding is down. We've got most of the finishes from the ceiling elevation down to the 40-foot elevation complete. And so Kris, kind of go over where we are at and what trades are here now.

[Kris Koenig] So that scaffold coming down was a huge critical path item. It controlled all that overhead work and getting the artwork down. That lets us go to the next part of it really. The next part of our critical path is going to be the stonework, both the vertical stuff that couldn’t be done while we are waiting on the scaffold and that flooring. When we originally put together a schedule, we had a four-month path of that stonework going, and that's aggressive for as much stonework as we've got on it. So that timeline is ticking.

Everybody down below is now working to try to make sure that the stone is up and going. And we have been in the sacristy for the last couple weeks; we're coming around the side chapels on the northside. We are ready for stonework on the side chapel on the southside and then we will just bring that flow all the way through the building. We'll pick off our stone floors on the north in Our Lady (of Guadalupe) and then in the Baptistry, pick off side areas and then work it back, east to west, across the building.

While that's happening there is a whole flow of other items that are happening at the same time. Peripheral rooms that aren't tied to the stonework like the cry room and up here in the choir loft: those are going to start finishing out so we can bring the flooring and finishes out and punch them out, even in the next couple of months. The basement is a similar scenario. We are probably within two weeks of being completely rocked out in the basement space. We've got finishes going on the far east side. Those will go to paint, those will go to ceiling grid and they will come along with the rest of the project. We really have two different paths going now, the critical path of stonework and all the open public spaces and then the perimeter peripheral spaces that don't have as much to do with that.

[Bill Drew] So, Kris, with all of what you just mentioned there is still quite a bit of finishes to be done with having our consecration date announced for May 3rd. You have quite a bit to do in the next few months!

[Kris Koenig] We absolutely do. And I made such a big point of saying that stonework is the big critical path right now. And it is and it's underway. But as you can see, there's a lot of other things that are being done in the open space. There is a transition of some wall work and the finishes that really couldn't be done well from that full dance floor scaffold. And so we are flowing that mid-range stuff, buttoning up anything that wasn't quite perfect on the walls when the scaffold was there. The artists have a lot of that in that realm.

So they are working on the mural work that was up above columns and the arches back in the sanctuary, and then they will do that same thing as well. They've got a lettering that goes in between the upper light cove and the architrave that will start right after Thanksgiving. If you can see it, we've got some of the details that they do around the arches in the sanctuary. There is a similar type of artwork that goes on the transept arches. This mid-range work that requires lifts is too high for Perry scaffold but it wasn't really a suitable to scaffold. That's going to be going on and sequencing over the next two to three weeks out of the public spaces so that truly the whole floor is open.

[Bill Drew] So it sounds like you got a pretty good handle on what's going on in the inside. Today I noticed we're pouring concrete on the north side of the church. What's going on, on the outside?

[Kris Koenig] So, I think as you mentioned in your intro, the shell of the building really is about 99% complete. But we still have hardscapes to do around the perimeter before we get into the worst of winter. We are going to go ahead and get the north parking lot paved out. So we've got two or three weeks of that process and then after that we will be having something hard to stage on. The actual final hardscapes up close to the building will wait until we come out of wintertime so the concrete is fresh and it hasn’t been tracked up or anything up close to the building. And then of course the landscaping will start around that time. Landscaping will basically have March and April of next year to go ahead and get us pristine pretty and ready for our consecration day.

[Bill Drew] So speaking of the exterior, earlier November we cancelled our statue fly date for the Immaculata statue and three of the other statues. What is that looking like now, Kris?

[Kris Koenig] Yeah, the wind got the best of us so we had to walk back both our primary date and our secondary date. As of right now we had to let the paving take over that process. One of the statues flies on to the north transept entryway so the paving is going to need to get past there and we are going to have to get a cure on it. So we are a little weather-dependent, like we were before with the crane, but that is probably more of an end-of-the-year type of scenario now: getting the pavement down and getting some strength on that concrete before we can bring the crane in.

[Bill Drew] Well they do make movies about Kansas being windy, so there it is!

So that wraps up what we have for today. We want to thank you again – this is our last video for 2022. We want to thank you for your support of the project. We continue to ask for your prayers and support, for Kris and his guys to get things wrapped up and for us to have a safe and successful completion.