ATKINSON — A new parish center is being built for St. Anthony’s Parish here on a firm foundation of parishioner generosity.

While groundbreaking for the $1.2 million facility took place after the 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday, July 25, the project really began months ago when parishioners dug deep into their wallets and shattered expectations for a fund drive.

According to Deacon Nick Simon, chairman of a strategic planning committee that has been charting parish development for five years, a fundraising company hired by the committee estimated a drive might bring in about $250,000.

“We were blessed to get $750,000,” said Deacon Simon, who was one of about a dozen committee members wearing t-shirts at the groundbreaking bearing the campaign theme: “Honoring Our Past, Building Our Future.”

“The people came together in a remarkable way,” said Father Michael Monclova, pastor, who blessed the building site. A former parish school that was discontinued in 1970 and old parish hall affectionately known as the “blue barn” were razed last summer to make way for the new facility, which will include a large hall that will seat 340, a modern kitchen, and a wing of rooms that can be used for meetings or religious education.

“We’ve been needing this for a long time,” said Father Monclova, who was named pastor last summer when Msgr. Don Fitzpatrick — under whose leadership initial planning for the project took place — was granted senior status.

Father Monclova said the facility, in addition to benefiting the parish’s faith and social life, will also serve the community’s needs.

Atkinson is a community of about 1,000 people located along Interstate 80 about 25 miles east of the Quad Cities. St. Anthony’s Parish, founded by Belgian settlers in 1870, is a growing faith community of about 240 households.

The parish center is a key part of a wider improvement project that also includes rewiring the 110-year-old church, replacing the church’s heating system and installing air conditioning, and repairing the rectory.