New Building
New Building
New Church Building Designs
Our latest updates on the parish web site show two video visions of the new church. One is a walk around the outside, the other is a walk through the inside. Click HERE to watch the videos.
Four companies that are presently working on our project are listed below with their web sites if you are interested in seeing more about them:
- ATA Architects Inc. – Architect: Michael Biljetina. Website – ataarchitectsinc.ca
- Klaas Design Inc. – Liturgical Consultant and Artist: Achim Klaas. Website – klaasdesign.com
- Mantecon Partners – Engineering firm working with our Architect. Website – manteconpartners.com
- Walters Steel – Producing and constructing steel structure of the church. Website – waltersgroupinc.com
Moving Forward
The Covid situation we face is affecting many parts of our lives. We were in the final stages of obtaining Site Plan approval from the city and preparing all designs to be ready to put it out to tender. This work is continuing though we obviously might be delayed under these circumstances.
Art work creation for the shrines in our new church continues. To see two videos about this work by Achim Klaas, go to Videos on our website or to our Youtube channel.
An Aerial View Of The New Church Site
The site of the new St. Catherine of Siena Church is on Rymal Road, west of Upper Sherman.
Site Plan Submitted
Planned Features Of The New Church
Our Architects, ATA, have been working hard in putting together the site plan for our new church and facilities. We hope to present this to the city of Hamilton during the summer. Some features of the new church are listed below:
- Church seating: approximately 750 seating
- Church hall: table and chair seating approximately 150, with option to open onto the Narthex to provide for additional space
- Two meeting rooms
- Board room to also provide as collection counting room
- Four offices (Pastor, Associate Pastor, Pastoral Minister, etc.
- Two appointment rooms (for meetings with couples preparing for marriage, with families preparing for funerals, counselling, etc.)
- Large Narthex entry: will allow for gathering before and after Mass. Coffee Sundays will be possible here.
- Parking: over 300 spaces including handicapped parking spaces
- Two tentative spaces still to be designed:
– Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto
– Corpus Christi Adoration Chapel
Building Plans Parish Update
Our Building Committee is hosting two update sessions for all parishioners. We will update on the process with the city planning department, introduce our Architect, and present some initial sketches of the church design and layout. Along with our building committee, Achim Klaas, our liturgical consultant will be present. It will be an opportunity for all parishioners to see our progress and be informed of next steps. There will be a time for questions.
Saturday May 12, 1:30pm Corpus Christi Site
Tuesday May 15, 7:30pm Our Lady of Lourdes Site
Creating A Wish List
Our building committee has been working on creating a wish list for our new church and facilities. This includes:
- reviewing the seating size of the new church
- size of the hall
- number of meeting rooms
- number of offices, etc.
To assist in this process we have had two priests who have built churches in the past come to speak to our committee to offer their suggestions and share their experiences.
Also, Monsignor Kroetsch gave us a presentation on the Liturgical aspects of a Catholic church. Achim Klaas, our Liturgical Consultant guided us in possible shapes and forms of the church.
The Committee then did a tour of two recently built churches in our Diocese – Holy Cross Church in Georgetown and St. Thomas Church in Watertown. After creating this wish list the next step will be the search for an architect.
Building Commitee Prayer
Dear God, we gather in gratitude for the generations who have come before us, on whose shoulders we stand and whose work we continue. With humility, we look to You to pro-vide the wisdom, guidance and resources we need to accomplish our task. We ask for a fresh empowering of Your Holy Spirit to give us discernment, creativity and clarity.
We thank You for each person’s willingness to serve. Help us work as a team, carefully listening to one another, appreciating our differences and the variety of gifts we bring. Help us be open-minded and have as our ultimate goal the knowing of Your will.
Bless our efforts. Help us work efficiently and help us to be faithful to the mission of our parish. We look to the future with an eager hope and are filled with joy that You are doing a new thing. As we move forward, deepen our faith. Increase our love for You and for one another. Thank you for hearing our prayers. Amen.
Building Committee Work
Several members of the committee attended an Open House of St.Benedict Parish in Milton which is in the process of building a church. They are in the final stages of design and hope to begin building in 2018. It was helpful for our committee to get information about their process and design plans.
In January, the committee will be visiting a couple of the newer churches built in our Diocese. This will help us as we begin putting together a wish list for our new church and facilities.
Please keep the committee in your prayers.
Zoning Change and Site Plan Approval
The preparation of our land for the new church has started. We have hired three firms to carry out the required work:
- MMP Land Surveyors – for the land survey
- Terraprobe – for the geological work and soil testing
- MHBC Planners – to assist us with the zoning change and site plan approval
We will plan to submit for the zoning change early in the new year.