For Immediate Release
St. Isidore Parishioners Vote to Build 'New' Church
Members of St. Isidore Catholic Church in Kanata North recently voted on a recommendation from the Expansion Task Force to remove the 120 year old church on March Road and to build a new church on the same property to meet the needs of their growing parish community.
Parishioners voted overwhelmingly in favour of building a new church. The decision, however, was not made easily and reflects many years of discussion and planning. For the last 18 months, the Task Force examined every possible way to expand the existing church.
A dedicated 10-member Task Force studied the need for an expanded church to provide a spiritual home where all parishioners could gather to celebrate their faith, to receive the Sacraments, and to worship in the spirit of fellowship. Local Architect Ralph Vandenberg prepared expansion plans to save the existing church. In July 2007, Ketchum Canada Inc. carried out a Feasibility Study to determine if parishioners believed that expansion was required, if the plans were acceptable and if the parish community could afford the $7.1 million price tag.
Parishioners strongly endorsed the concept of an expanded worship space but indicated that the cost far exceeded their ability to pay. Over a year has been spent trying to find creative ways to save the scenic and much-loved rural church.
On Oct. 15, after exhausting all expansion options, the Task Force unanimously agreed and recommended that the existing church be taken down and that a new church be constructed on the same site. Approval of that recommendation was granted at a general meeting of parishioners on December 2, 2007.
The above conceptual draft by Architect Ralph Vandenberg
will be further fine-tuned to best meet the needs of St. Isidore parishioners.
A new building designed to utilize the preserved stained glass windows, the steeple, bell and some stone from the old structure, is estimated to cost $3.5 million - slightly less than half the cost of expanding the old structure. With the decision made to move forward, the task force will now work quickly to develop the next steps.
Committee representatives have toured the beautiful new Holy Spirit Church, presently under construction, in Stittsville. Through consultation with other churches, the St. Isidore Task Force hopes to study best practices and approaches to building 'new'.
"We must raise the money quickly and not incur a large debt for future parishioners," said Deacon Des Adam, Project Chair.
The Task Force has now focused its attention on raising the $3.5 million. Launch of a major Fundraising Campaign is planned for early in 2008. All families in the parish will be asked to make a 3-5 year pledge to support this once-in-a-lifetime project.
For further information or to request an interview - please contact:
St. Isidore Roman Catholic Church, 1135 March Road, R.R. 1, Kanata, ON K2K 1X7
Ph: 613-592-1961 Extension 4 - Des Adam or Pastor: Father Ross Finlan, Ext 8 pastor@stisidore.com
http://www.stisidorekanata.com/