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What started out as a great idea has turned into one long process. In 1995 the three churches in Lethbridge were looked at for their longevity and ability to meet the needs of the future. All three failed. There were financial considerations, they lacked proper meeting rooms, lacked parking, lacked elderly and handicapped accessibility and amenities. Each had their own pastor and in many ways the reports about the individual facilities were ignored.
In the early 2000s St. Patrick’s was merged with Assumption and in 2006 St. Basil’s was merged with Assumption and St. Patrick’s. |
These mergers were driven by both a lack of priests and financial considerations. As the people started taking a serious look at their situation some recognized that they could no longer continue as before. Solutions? Either to build a new church that could fill the needs of the people of God in east Lethbridge going into the future or to repair and fix up the three old churches. Both options were given serious consideration and in the end the decision sent to the Bishop was to build a new church.
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A new church design was developed and the plans were put in place for the building of a new church with a date of 2012 set for move in. This never happened. Problems arose; lack of support for the project, people did not like the new design; how could we go from three traditional looking churches to one that did not look like a church? Other people did not like the idea that the three small community churches were going to be closed and sold even though they could not meet the needs of the future and the cost to upgrade and repair them was not viable. |
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Since 2012 we have listened to the concerns of the people. What should a new church look like? What should be in the new church? What is wrong with the old churches? What would it cost to upgrade the old churches? Can we take the sacred from the old churches to use in the new church? Will bringing the old into the new church cost us extra, and is the extra cost worth the effort? As of 2017 we have permission from Rome to close and sell the old churches.
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We have a new design that has traditional elements to it and will incorporate at least 85% of the sacred objects from the old churches. We have sufficient parking as well as office and community space that should see us safely into the future. The new design is being put together with a “green” mindset. We have an agreement with Covenant Health that they are willing to build two centres next to the church, creating a Catholic Complex in Lethbridge.
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The church will hold just over 900 people with each person having 30 inches of space for themselves. Pews will be 39 inches apart back to back leaving lots of space for elderly and handicapped persons.
Interior finishings are still in the works and we have yet to raise about four million dollars before we can start construction but we are moving forward in faith. If you wish to see the current designs please check out our website. |
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