Saint Benedict Cathedral
Church Capital Campaign For Maintenance, Debt-Elimination, & Expansion
Saint Benedict Cathedral has long been a beautiful beacon of mission, respite, and reverence for God in the Evansville community. Their cathedral, school, and other buildings serve those purposes if they are cared for and well maintained. Church leadership recognized that their facilities required improvements to remain in good repair and to become more welcoming, comfortable, and functional for all who came to worship, celebrate, work, and study at the parish.
Challenges & Solutions
Maintenance
After having Walsh conduct a feasibility and planning study, the church moved into their Building for Mission capital campaign. A large part of their need was maintenance. Across their campus they needed HVAC system replacements, updates, and renovations. Since so many of their units needed to be replaced, they also planned to embark on an effort to convert their steam heat to more energy and cost-efficient forced air.
Debt – Eliminated!
In recognition of the larger cost of debt, the capital campaign’s minimum goal also included eliminating their debt. Doing this would allow Saint Benedict to redirect over $1.5 million per year of savings toward services and ministries to benefit their church members, their community, and the greater world.
Awareness of the benefits of paying off the debt created by their Building for Mission campaign motivated the congregation to action. Through their blessed generosity, Saint Benedict Cathedral was able to fully pay off their debt before the active phase of the campaign was even completed.
Greater Vision
Expansion & Renovation
As Saint Benedict Cathedral embarks on upgrading campus HVAC systems, their future includes renovation and expansion. Their old boiler building will be demolished, and a mechanical addition built onto their cathedral. Building the addition will present an opportunity to make the sanctuary ADA compliant by installing an elevator and new restroom. Their outdated sacristy and bride’s room will also be renovated.
Building
As the center of the Diocese of Evansville, an exciting part of Saint Benedict’s future plans is to build a new, dedicated Ministry Center and Gathering Space. This will provide a convenient, large meeting and event space. It will be a comfortable, convenient gathering area for Diocesan and parish events.
Campaign Goal & Success
Campaign Goal: $5,000,000
Amount Raised: $6,113,501
Times Giving: 3.35
