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Our Lady of Victory breaks ground on expansion
Published Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Twelve years after dedication of a new church, Our Lady of Victory Parish has broken ground for a new fellowship hall that will seat 216 people. The groundbreaking took place late Monday morning between the church and Catholic school, just off Oak Street.
“We’re building this hall with a spirit of parish unity and fellowship,” said the new pastor, the Rev. Greg Paffel. “This is a wonderful day, with beautiful sunshine.”
Chairperson Dennis Roers said the 4,800-square-foot fellowship hall should be completed in April or May, 2009. Two doors will connect the fellowship hall to the church. There also will be an entrance from the school gym to the new fellowship hall.
Sky lights between the church and fellowship hall will allow for sunlight for the stain glass windows on the south side of the church.
The general contractor is Comstock Construction. Also working on the project will be Overland Mechanical, Fergus Electric and Earl Strande Excavating.
“Many people worked hard and contributed to make this day a reality,” said Roers prior to the start of the groundbreaking at 11 a.m. Monday. “This indeed is a combined parish-wide effort.”
Roers’ wife, Irma, is secretary for the fellowship project. Bill Giesen is vice-chair.
Other Fellowship Hall Building Committee members are the Revs. Greg Paffel and LeRoy Schik, Wayne Dirkman, Don Linn, Mark Remer, Gary Spies, Daryl Evavold, Pat Griffin, Margaret Krogh, Mike and Marlys Lucy, David Spies and Jeff Wachlarowicz.
On. Sept. 23 OLV received approval for the project from Bishop John Kinney and the vicar general of the Diocese of St. Cloud to move forward with construction.
“This (the groundbreaking) is a long-awaited moment that completes a long-range plan that began over 12 years ago, when Our Lady of Victory parish moved into its new church,” the Rev. Paffel said. “We’re still encouraging members of the parish to make a pledge for the fellowship hall.”
Any additional funds will be used for church projects, on a priority basis.
“The new fellowship hall, when completed in 2009, will allow for wonderful opportunities to enhance the life of the parish,” the Rev. Paffel said.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by watermelon (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 1:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Where exactly are they expanding to? The parking lot? They already tore down the _entire_ block for a parking lot back in the late 1980's. Now they'll have less parking and will need to buy up the rest of the remaining homes in the neighborhood just to get more saturday night parking. I swear they're getting worse than the hospital. Build a ramp, already-it's not like they don't have the money.
Posted by number6 (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 3:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Fellowship Hall addition to the church will be north of the gym and south of the church, which presently is a grass area that is unused, not part of the parking lot. If you travel north on Oak Street, the opposite side of the block from the parking lot, you will see the area.
Posted by sassica (anonymous) on October 1, 2008 at 11:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think its a great idea!
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