Renovations to St. Matthew’s Church were completed in 2002, but that only tells part of the story.
The church is now undertaking renovations and constructing an addition to update its school, the church parish and expand parking and other facilities. The work is being done between the church and the school and will include a gathering space, parish offices, daycare, a library and conference room and bathrooms.
Father Joseph Orr said, “The school building is going to be completely renovated.”
He explained the process behind the project that has been in the works for about three years.
“We started with a survey of the parish to find out what the parishioners were looking for from the church,” said Father Orr. “We had a parish assembly and we put together all the information and we said ‘here’s what people are looking for in terms of facilities’.”
Orr said the idea was to make the facility “more hospitable.” He said parking was an issue. A decision was made to make the entry way into the church “something attractive.” Orr said the concept was to make it “something that would make people feel at ease and welcome.”
Father Orr said, “We felt that the offices and the school should be in close proximity so there could be better (interaction) between the different departments.”
He said the way things are now those serving at the church must now go between three different buildings. He said the church also wanted to bring the facilities up to code. The school has been in existence since 1886. Orr said the school is two stories and the additions would be one story.
Father Orr said that due to rising expenses the church had to “scale down the project by two-thirds.” As it is, the contract for the project came in at $2.35 million. The church had hoped to add more classrooms and address issues regarding the social hall, but those plans were tabled.
Orr said the contractors “had the property as of Monday” and the school had been totally vacated. The work on the project is expected to last until next summer.
Orr said the church is planning to meet with parents next week to discuss options regarding the school’s students.
“Just about any place we want to send them is not going to meet code,” said Orr.
He explained that current laws make it nearly impossible to get an exemption.
“What we need is a building that has an educational use occupancy,” said Orr. “Most buildings do not carry that.”
Orr said the project was being made possible by a former student of the St. Matthew School who remembered the parish by leaving the church $4 million in his estate.
He said Leonard Zanghi had been a student at the school some 80 years ago and he remembered the parish and school “that gave him a good start in life.”
Father Orr also expressed thanks to the community for attempting to help with the issue of the education of the school’s students during the project.
“I’m very pleased from the response we received from the Methodist churches in town,” said Orr. “All three opened their doors to us, that if possible, they would welcome our school (children) there in the coming year. The code issues make it almost impossible.
“It really was a beautiful gesture on the part of the community,” said Father Orr.
