We have had a very busy week when it comes to our facilities and some of the issues that the overuse and taxing of the campus have illustrated due to our extremely busy parish life. Did you see on our Capital Campaign page that we have over 4,200 events every year, and that is not including the Masses? That is extraordinary. When you have that many events and activities, however, things can get a bit hectic. We have Irish Dancers practicing in classrooms during a Sock Hop going on in the Ballroom. We have community support groups like Al-Anon meeting next to the Naples Council of World Affairs.
Last Wednesday, we had an incident where a gas smell was detected by a group meeting in the Library. I want to thank Natalie Campbell, Tauni Grossklas and the entire set of volunteer catechists who ensured the safety and well being of our Faith Formation classes while the fire department checked out the situation. Our gas company confirmed that we did not have any issue with human error or our equipment, only that the smell came from our gas tanks because they were extremely low. There was no danger, but it does give us an opportunity to refine our safety and security procedures as a Parish. We have already taken certain steps to ensure the kitchen is only accessed by authorized personnel and groups, as well as updating our emergency procedures. We have been working with the Fire Department to determine the proper signage and capacity requirements for our facilities, making sure that the safety of our Parish Family is our top priority.
Since the protection of our parishioners is paramount, we have instituted measures in our parking areas as well. We had issues with speeding and poor parking in our parking lots this past weekend. New speed limit signs have been placed around the lots to ensure we all keep to the 15 miles per hour limit and we are all vigilant about how we drive around the church. We need to remember that small children are attending Faith Formation and could be walking in the parking area around the same time as Sunday Masses. No Parking signs have also been placed in critical areas that are used for emergency vehicle passage, and we have to work together as a community to enforce those locations. This includes the entire driveway in front of both the PLC and Claussen Center. We would not want an ambulance to be blocked from getting to a critical situation in our buildings because of an improperly parked car. There are plenty of parking spaces, even if they are a little further away from the church. If you have never been to the back parking lot, I highly recommend it, especially since that will be the best spot for visiting our Life Center once it is built.
