To look to the future of St Anthony’s we have to first look to the past. The campaign to build the current church included a daily Mass chapel; however, that got dropped. Two years ago our parish survey of possible church improvements showed majority support for a daily Mass chapel. We have a plan to build a 60-seat chapel.
A chapel would allow a better environment for small events; if you know you will only have 25 people for a funeral, a chapel would not feel so empty. Additionally, we could have two events simultaneously, such as a choir practice or wedding rehearsal in church while Adoration is going on in the chapel.
Our proposal is to build onto the main entrance side of the church this chapel. It will not be an ordinary room that gets an altar put into it; it will be designed as a sacred space with stained glass windows we still have from the former church. We are still working on design details before we can show you an image.
Stauder Architecture, the same company that designed our current church has designed our building plan for a daily Mass chapel. The parish survey 2 years ago which gave support to a chapel also gave majority support to expanding the bathrooms. We have 3 toilets on the church level which results in a waiting line during our summer season. By building onto the church we can expand our bathrooms and double the number of toilets. Of course, we have toilets downstairs, but an 800-seat church means quite a few steps just to get to the gathering space when you have a need that is urgent.
Our long sidewalk up to the main entrance of church requires quite a bit of snow shoveling or walking in the rain at times. A building addition to that side of church is an opportunity to cover the sidewalk for better protection from the elements.
In our building plan, a bell tower has been designed to welcome visitors to our church and to highlight the main entrance as an archway visitors walk under to approach the main doors. The bell tower is modern and airy to fit the modern church exterior that we have. A carillon system would ring out tunes or chimes to call folks to Mass or to mark the Angelus times of day as has been done for centuries.
To look to the future of St Anthony’s we have to first look to the past. The campaign to build the current church included a daily Mass chapel; however, that got dropped. Two years ago our parish survey of possible church improvements showed majority support for a daily Mass chapel. We have a plan to build a 60-seat chapel.
A chapel would allow a better environment for small events; if you know you will only have 25 people for a funeral, a chapel would not feel so empty. Additionally, we could have two events simultaneously, such as a choir practice or wedding rehearsal in church while Adoration is going on in the chapel.
Our proposal is to build onto the main entrance side of the church this chapel. It will not be an ordinary room that gets an altar put into it; it will be designed as a sacred space with stained glass windows we still have from the former church. We are still working on design details before we can show you an image.
Stauder Architecture, the same company that designed our current church has designed our building plan for a daily Mass chapel. The parish survey 2 years ago which gave support to a chapel also gave majority support to expanding the bathrooms. We have 3 toilets on the church level which results in a waiting line during our summer season. By building onto the church we can expand our bathrooms and double the number of toilets. Of course, we have toilets downstairs, but an 800-seat church means quite a few steps just to get to the gathering space when you have a need that is urgent.
Our long sidewalk up to the main entrance of church requires quite a bit of snow shoveling or walking in the rain at times. A building addition to that side of church is an opportunity to cover the sidewalk for better protection from the elements.
In our building plan, a bell tower has been designed to welcome visitors to our church and to highlight the main entrance as an archway visitors walk under to approach the main doors. The bell tower is modern and airy to fit the modern church exterior that we have. A carillon system would ring out tunes or chimes to call folks to Mass or to mark the Angelus times of day as has been done for centuries.
Our 22-year-old main church does have specific needs that need to be addressed in our building plan. The carpet needs replacing and the lighting needs improvements made; however, there are no plans to change the look of the sanctuary. Our proposed chapel is being designed with more traditional features as a contrast to the modern features of the main church. In that way, individuals would have the choice for their private prayer and visits to spend in whichever sacred space they prefer.
During COVID our 800-seat church has seemed empty most of the time, but for years we have been putting extra seats in the back aisle every summer season. Doing so causes people to walk on our floor vents breaking them. Chairs in the aisle also hinder egress and, thus, are a safety concern if there were an emergency. Stauder Architecture designed our church with the option of enlarging it. Our building plan would enact that option by adding 200 more permanent seats in back of church by pushing the walls out, and the extra chairs that we’ve been using would be used in the chapel instead.
The Memorial Walkway that we have along our sidewalk does not disappear in our building plan, but it would have to be re-positioned along with the outdoor statues into a plaza – an outdoor gathering space or waiting area – that would be adjacent to our covered sidewalk entrance.
Every Tuesday before Mass we conduct devotions to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Unfortunately, this image of Our Lady sits on the back wall of church requiring parishioners to turn around for the devotion.
Our plan is to move this image into the daily Mass chapel, and for it to be the main Marian image in the chapel not just on Tuesday mornings but as the title of this chapel - the Perpetual Help Chapel.
Devotional candles and a kneeler would fill out the space before the image, and a second saint shrine would sit on the other side of the sanctuary. Our depiction shows St Joseph, but we could use any portrait of a saint on that side to balance the portrait of the Perpetual Help.
A traditional reredos behind the altar serves as the Tabernacle stand for this Chapel with shelf space for candlesticks and flowers to adorn the sanctuary, as desired. Above the Tabernacle would be a Crucifix under the crown baldachino.
