Photo Caption: The newly completed St. Anthony’s Parish Center in Atkinson will be blessed by Bishop Jenky on Sunday evening, July 24.

By: By Tom Dermody

ATKINSON — “We watched a miracle take place.”

That’s how Deacon Nick Simon describes the outpouring of sacrifice and generosity that has resulted in the completion of a new St. Anthony Parish Center across the street from the faith community’s nearly century-old church.

The $800,000 facility — which includes a parish hall capable of seating 200 at round tables, a spacious kitchen, parish offices, classroom/meeting rooms, and plenty of parking space — will be dedicated this Sunday, July 24.

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, is scheduled to preside at vespers at 5 p.m. as well as the blessing ceremony that follows at the parish center. A dinner will then be served, with members of the parish and all who have supported the project invited to attend.

The 7,500-square-foot building, with a steel exterior trimmed in brick and stone, was completed June 1 and is receiving “lots of positive reaction” from parishioners, according to Father R. Anthony Lee, pastor. It has already hosted events, including an anniversary celebration and a funeral dinner.

PART OF MULTI-PHASE PLAN
“The new parish center represents the continued legacy of sacrifices made for our Catholic faith in Atkinson,” said Father Lee, who was appointed pastor of St. Anthony’s in January.

Father Lee is the third pastor to be involved in the project. Msgr. Don Fitzpatrick organized a strategic planning committee in 2005, which identified the need for a parish center as the key part of a $1.2 million, multi-phase building plan supported by a capital campaign called “Honoring Our Past, Building Our Future.”

The first priority in the plan was improvements to the church, built in 1917 and in need of rewiring. A restroom was also added, and wiring was upgraded in the rectory.

Father Michael Monclova was named pastor in 2009, the year that St. Anthony’s former parish school was razed to make way for the new parish center. Built in 1907, the school had closed in 1973 but continued to house religious education classes until a few years ago when the need for major repairs became evident.

Last summer, the final path was cleared for the new facility with the demolition of the former parish hall, a small building affectionately known as the “Blue Barn” that was created in the 1960s by walling in a picnic shelter.

“AN EVANGELIZATION CENTER”
Deacon Simon, who chaired the strategic planning committee, said the parish center was needed because successful parishes are welcoming places where evangelization is done in small groups and “we didn’t have facilities for either.”

St. Anthony’s does now, and Atkinson also has a new place for community and corporate gatherings.

“This will be our evangelization center,” said Deacon Simon, who called the project “a work of the Spirit” that has been unifying for the 260-household parish, which was founded in 1856 by Belgian ancestors.

“It’s amazing the way the people responded,” he continued, crediting the firm “Guidance in Giving” for its assistance with the capital campaign. In addition to generous and widespread financial support from families, parish groups such as the Altar and Rosary Society also sponsored a variety of fundraisers. Several women from the parish designed the kitchen after visiting 13 different similar centers, a “color committee” selected tones for the building, and a group of four families went together to purchase a second stove when the need became apparent.

The parish center is an environmentally friendly, “super-insulated” facility that also has high-tech features, including a screen and projection unit that drops down from the ceiling.

But not everything is “new.” The entryway includes a statue of St. Anthony that had been in the former school. It was restored by Heritage
Restoration of Peoria with funding by the parish’s Cookbook Committee. And the kitchen utilizes a stove, exhaust hoods, and a dishwasher from nearby St. Malachy’s Parish in Geneseo, which recently completed its own parish center.

Father Lee credited Deacon Simon and the strategic planning committee for the success of the project, calling them “vibrant examples of faithfulness and love for Christ and the church.”

In addition to Deacon Simon and his wife, Norma, members of the committee include Albert and Mary Jane Boelens, Helen Claeys (trustee), Mary Helen Claeys, Stanley and Jean Causemaker, Mary Kay Franks, Mary Lou Goebert, Daniel Longeville (trustee) and Bonnie Obrecht.

After celebrating the completion of the parish hall, the committee will turn to the final phase of the building project — a new heating and air conditioning system for the church.