| St. Mary's turns earth, prepares for parish center |
| Written by administrator | |||
| Thursday, 31 July 2008 08:44 | |||
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BRANFORD St. Mary Church has broken ground for a new, 6,820-square-foot parish center, which will provide much-needed space for pastoral and social activities of the 2,600-family parish. Auxiliary Bishop Peter A. Rosazza and Father Christopher M. Ford, pastor, blessed the cornerstone and the building site, and, along with parish leaders and construction representatives, turned the first shovelfuls of earth. The parish has been without a gathering space on church grounds since a 1972 fire destroyed the previous church building and its basement hall, as the replacement church was built without a basement. While the parish school can accommodate large gatherings in its gymnasium, it is located over a tenth of a mile away, and is heavily used for sporting events. The parish previously counted on the generosity of Eldorado Council No. 10, Knights of Columbus, for use of its hall, located across the street from the church, but that building was sold in the mid-1990s, leaving the parish without a convenient location for social activities. When completed, the parish center will have a gathering space that can accommodate 171 people seated banquet-style or 367 auditorium-style, and which can be divided into three smaller spaces for multiple simultaneous gatherings, such as Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults classes, Small Christian Communities gatherings and meetings of parish societies. The center, which will be connected to the church via a glass atrium, will also include pastoral and administrative offices, providing a handicapped-accessible reception area directly from the parking area. Currently, visitors to parish offices must walk from the parking area behind the rectory to the front door, climbing several steps. The center was designed by Kosinski Architecture, headquartered in Branford, on the basis of facts received from a parish study group first convened in 2005 to perform a needs analysis. The general contractor for the $1.8 million project is Branford-based Vigliotti Construction Co. A completion date of spring 2009 is anticipated.
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