The Development of the Grotto

DEVELOPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE GROTTO START TO FINISH

In 1999 Father Fete, the Pastor of Little Flower, approached the high school students of the parish with several project ideas.  One of the students, a girl scout, developed a plan for one of these projects, The Grotto of the Resurrection, and received her Gold Star award as a result of her work.

The project was completely funded by donations from the parishioners and the community.Parishioners completed the vast majority of the planning and construction work on this project.

The initial planning for this project took 2 years and the actual construction took 4 years to complete.The construction of this project included the following:

• Grading, contouring, and seeding of approximately 5 acres of land
• Installation of a concrete structure for the Grotto
• Pouring of 250 cubic yards of concrete
• Installation of approximately 55,000 paving bricks
• Installation of 1 mile of electrical conduit and 4 miles of underground electrical wire
• Placement of about 750 tons of limestone boulders – some being as large as 5 ton
• Over 500 tons of gravel
• Installation of over 1700 feet of drainage pipe
• Installation of polished granite fixtures including and altar, pulpit, benches, burial stone, and obelisk
• Two life size bronze statues imported from Italy
• Fourteen illuminated steel towers that are 14 ft. tall
• Planting of 300 trees and shrubs