Latest Updates
Please check back often for updates.
Historic Church Open House
All are invited to a pre-reopening Open House at the Historic Church on Friday, March 22 from 2-6 PM. The Sanctuary and Stained-Glass portions of the Historic Church Restoration will be completed on that date and the Daprato Rigali team will be available to answer questions and discuss the process of the Phase I renovation. Light refreshments will be served. |
- Restoration Budget: click here
- Restoration Plans: click here
March 15, 2024
Work continues on the wiring, sound system, and the substructure of the church. Historic Church Open House All are invited to an Open House on Friday, March 22 from 2:00 to 6:00 PM to check out the restoration progress and ask questions of the Daprato Rigali team, who will be finished with the stained-glass window installation and sanctuary restoration on that date. Work on the basement and sacristy will continue, and we are targeting a re-opening in early June. |
February 29, 2024
Work continues on the substructure and foundation of the church to shore up any weaknesses and prepare for the HVAC installation in late April. |
November 16, 2023
Final touches continue at Daprato Studios in Chicago for the first batch of restored stained glass windows. They are slated for delivery the week of December 4th. Discussions were held between the parish, builder, and architect regarding carpeting, ambo placement, electrical, and coordination with other subcontractors. |
November 13, 2023
Meetings were held this week with the parish team, our general contractor and, architect. Discussions included; cabinetry sample reviews, carpet sacristy, alter server room, and narthex., electrical review, trim color, and type as well as bell tower issues and coating around the large rose-colored window. Also, the plans, specs, and dates for the substructure and foundation were reviewed. |
October 27, 2023
Work continues on the exterior brick color and restoration. It was recently discovered after an inspection that the roof and towers will need repair and restoration. Work continues on the new altar floor while diligent work continues in Chicago to completely restore the stained-glass windows. It is anticipated that a number of the larger windows will begin their journey back to Bend in December. |
August 29, 2023
The restoration of the altar continues with the Deprato Regali group stationed in Bend. The team in Chicago has begun the dismantling, cleaning, re-leading, and restoration of each of the thousands of individual glass pieces from our church. Please see our Gallery page for the work being done in Chicago. |
July 28, 2023
Various meetings have been held with the entire restoration team to decide where the Altar, Communion rails, and electrical system should be placed. This coming week, all the stained-glass, statues as well as the rederos will be removed for shipment back to Daprato Rigali Studios in Chicago. There are plans to conduct a structural evaluation of the entire building. News Channel 21, KTVZ as well as Central Oregon Daily News paid us a visit at the Historic Church to obtain stories of the restoration to be aired. (See links to the stories on the top of this page) |
July 24, 2023
The Regali Team arrived to begin assembling the scaffolding for the removal of all of the stained-glass windows for shipment to the Daprato Rigali Headquarters in Chicago. Initial meetings with Father Jose, Deprato, Architecture, and the General Contractor were held to discuss the removal of the old altar, placement of the Ambo, configuration of the new altar, and many other aspects of the restoration. |
July 3, 2023
Volunteers along with several Knights of Columbus members cleaned out the sanctuary of the church. Everything except the altar was removed to prepare the space for the abatement team to work. The altar is solid marble and weighs more than 2,100 pounds. The piano was moved into the nave and carefully covered to prevent dust. The organ in the choir loft has been draped professionally to make sure that no pipes are damaged and to prevent dust. |
July 2023
A meeting was held with the structural engineers, our general contractor, and the HVAC company to pre plan for scaffolding placement in the Church. Scaffolding weighs thousands of pounds and the church must be structurally sound given its age. Also, the structure must be temporarily moved to remove the old boiler system and replace it with a new one. |
June 2023
Daprato Rigali sent a team to plan the logistics for the restoration and de-installation of the stained-glass windows. Arrangements have been made for the removal of the old ducting, furnace, carpeting, asbestos abatement, tile, and other materials. See the pictures in the gallery. |
End of May 2023
The Parish Finance Council approved approximately $400,000 worth of subcontracting work to begin in early July. Items approved were the removal of ductwork, carpeting, asbestos, and the cleaning and hauling of items stored at the church. Also approved were the removal of concrete stairs, and the installation of temporary fencing. Work will also commence on the steel platform for the HVAC system. Deprato Regali, the restoration company, is planning on being in Bend in early July to begin uninstalling all the stained-glass windows for shipment to Chicago. |
May 10, 2023
Meeting with Deprato Regali Studios to confirm plans, specifications, contract details, work start date, payment terms, and the next steps. The tentative date to begin work is the first week of July, the church will be closed at this time. A meeting was held with Finance and Stewardship to ensure the correct date information is shared. Provisions for Stewardship to have Read Only access to the Parishsoft system. Additionally, provisions were made so that registered and unregistered donors were captured so that we can communicate the progress of the renovation, reach out to donors, have up-to-date information for pledges received, etc. Met with the Webmaster to discuss setting up new pages, and the weekly download of existing information which includes pictures, budget, sponsorship items, renderings, timeline, etc. |
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church
2450 NE 27th St. Bend, Oregon 97701 Phone: (541) 382-3631 Fax: (541) 385-8879 Office Hours Monday - Thursday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Friday 8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. To Give: Thank you for your generosity, click here. |