St. Gabriel Rendering( Courtesy of Miller Dunwiddie)
ST. GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL CATHOLIC CHURCH( Hopkins, Minn.)
Leaders at St. Gabriel the Archangel are in the middle of a transformational renovation of their 1950s-era building. Langer Construction’ s involvement with St. Gabriel started small, with a remodel of the parish’ s lower-level social hall. A minor remodel was comprised of primarily new finishes and accessible ramp; the Langer team handled it from start to finish. Following the success of the social hall, Langer was enlisted for a much larger project: remodeling St. Gabriel’ s nave, sanctuary and narthex. Functioning as the design-build partner, Langer assembled the entire project team— design, construction and consultants. Langer provided accurate and detailed conceptual estimates for multiple project options, allowing St Gabriel to select the best possible project that aligned with their available budget. The remodel project is currently underway, with a particular focus on preserving St. Gabriel’ s incredible stained glass— which was in a state of disrepair— and the addition of new tile flooring and tile columns, artist-painted ceiling, new pews and reredos, remodeled confessionals, and restrooms.“ The worship space is going to be breathtaking once it’ s done,” says Langer Vice President Josh Schultz.“ We’ ve assembled the complete team for this turn-key project. As design-builder, we have brought together the architect, stained glass preservation firm, and custom furniture-maker,” he adds.“ Once complete, I believe this may be the finest remodeled Catholic church in Minnesota.”
ST. ODILIA CATHOLIC CHURCH & SCHOOL( Shoreview, Minn.)
Langer Construction began working with the St. Odilia Catholic Community at a challenging time for the parish. They had previously devised a master plan with an initial scope of work costing millions more than they could afford to spend on the first phase.“ The parish was stuck and turned to Langer Construction for help,” says Langer President Russ Zellmer. Teaming with the architect, Langer developed a cost model that could be used to make informed decisions to balance the scope of the project with the available budget. Within one year, the stalled initial project within the larger master plan was back on track with a reduced scope and more efficient construction techniques.“ You don’ t have one multi-million-dollar job— you have a dozen smaller jobs that equate to that larger figure,” says Zellmer. Essentially, he and the Langer team helped St. Odilia break its overall project into“ manageable bites” for the scope of work. Pricing for each element was presented in such a way that allowed the owner to prioritize and develop a project that was attainable and meaningful. This addition and remodeling project to an existing two-story church and school consisted of a 2,500-square-foot, single-story addition to the church and a 10,000-square-foot, two-story school addition. Approximately 13,000 square feet of the church and school were remodeled.“ We’ re still working with them today on their next push as they look to dream and re-imagine” Zellmer says.
“ This market still respects trust” Another defining characteristic among church clients, according to Schultz, is the importance of trust.“ And for the project to be a success, it must happen early in the process,” he adds. Langer Construction is at the table from the very beginning— and maintains until the end.“ Every construction company can build a building. They all know how to assemble steel and pour concrete” Zellmer explains.“ Where we differ from them is, we provide complete project leadership. We are a partner that you can rely on through the entire process, from pre-construction through project turnover.” Complete project leadership is critical:“ Working on ministry projects is unique. At Langer, we analyze the desires and needs of the church and make recommendations,” Zellmer says. A budget is set early in the process knowing that there are far more needs than the budget will allow for. It is the job of Langer to provide support in the design and budgeting process to give church leadership the proper tools to set the priorities.
“ Once a project scope aligns with the budget, we work with the design team to provide value engineering. Researching the best construction types for the situation; completing cost analysis on different building shapes and sizes; evaluating roof designs, various interior finishes and schedules based on time of year— all are VE examples,” Zellmer says.“ A church just can’ t be over budget— no matter how little or insignificant it may seem— because every dollar is from sacrificial giving.” Neither Zellmer nor Schultz claim that it’ s the simplest approach. The alternative, however, is potentially far more costly and time-consuming for the owner. Preconstruction involvement is so crucial, in fact, that both men say it now occupies much of the time they spend with clients. This includes introducing other team members— project management staff and site superintendents— who will take the project through construction, while Zellmer and Schultz maintain a visible, accessible leadership presence.“ It’ s important that [ Zellmer ] or I are at most of the meetings,” Schultz explains.“ We’ ll be overseeing the project every single day from the
CHURCH EXECUTIVE. COM | 19