If your heart is closed to the newness of the Holy Spirit, you will never reach the full truth… your Christian life will be a half-and-half life, a patched up life, mended with new things but on a structure that is not open to the Lord’s voice: a closed heart, because you are not capable of changing the wineskins.– Pope Francis
After a rigorous evaluation of the various qualified candidates to team with us to build our Life Center, Saint John the Evangelist has chosen Gates Construction as our Construction Manager. They are extremely well-known and respected in Naples and nationally for their ability to develop and deploy facilities with high-quality, value management implementation. Every company we interviewed was extremely well scored by our evaluators, but Gates had the unique qualification of just completing a very similar project just right down the road from us. It is a first for Gates to be considered for a Diocese of Venice project, and we hope that this opportunity will give them incentives to excel even beyond their normal quality work.
Construction Managers operate differently than regular contractors or construction companies. They do not build themselves. They do not employ painters or electricians. Instead, they are experts in the complexities of large building projects, and sub-contract for experts in each field needed to accomplish that unique facility. That means we will get the best possible air conditioning contractor, along with the best flooring installer, and the best plumber, while we have a single point of contact that will ensure our vision is carried out. This is exactly what we need for the Life Center, which is not a simple construction task. With food service, wellness spaces, and a production stage, Gates is the partner that can bring it all together under one roof.
We had our first Pre-Construction Meeting with Gates, Studio+, our Architect, and Q. Grady Minor, our Engineering Firm. We are almost ready to submit our Site Development Plan to the County for their comments and feedback. It is the start of the construction planning and we do not want to rush it, as we will find all the potential “gotchas” in our building during this time, negating the 
potential for change orders in the middle of construction and ensuring we stay on budget. Get ready for a new year of excitement, change, and yes, some patience and flexibility!
While the money has been pledged in our Build Our Future, Serve Our Past capital campaign to build our Life Center and some of our other urgent needs, we still need our entire Parish Family to give in order to reach our additional goals, including the detailed execution of the above programs. If you have any questions, please contact Joe Lichwalla, the Campaign Coordinator at 239-495-2001 or email: [email protected].
You can also learn more information about the Campaign at: www.sjecc.com/future