Selectmen give nod to St. Pat's renovation
Published on September 10th, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - The town's Board of Selectmen unanimously approved a site plan detailing renovation designs for Stoneham's St. Patrick's Church.
Outlining a three-tier construction schedule, Angelo Petrozzelli, president of Haverhill's Design Partnership Architects, Inc., told the Selectmen that the renovations will first concentrate on the church's religious and pastoral offices, a project that has already secured funding from the archdiocese.
"On the ground floor, the same level of the existing school, will be offices, CCD areas and community rooms. The public will have far greater access to the place," explained Petrozzelli.
Although the church has yet to secure funding for the second construction stage, the next phase will concentrate on renovating the church itself and adding a wing that will connect the church, school, and religious offices.
While the new wing will create a greater accessibility to the institution, allowing churchgoers to enter the building from both Pomeworth and Central Streets, Petrozzelli boasted that the building's facade will completely blend in with the existing site.
"When we're all done, you won't even know there's an old building and a new building because it will have the same character. We're going to take the eight stain glass windows from the current sides of the building and recycle them," commented Petrozzelli.
Featuring a new congregating hallway at the opening of the church and a 16-person elevator for disabled patrons, the highlight of the church renovations will be a new semi-circle setup around the alter, says Petrozzelli, who added that the church will double its capacity from 450 to 900 persons with the new construction.
"It's going to be laid-out so people are more intimate to the alter. The alter will be in the center of the church with seating on three sides. The floor in the middle will also be gently sloped so there's a better line of sight of the altar," remarked Petrozzelli.
"The disabled seating will also be dispersed throughout the church so if you're in a wheelchair, you won't be stuck in one area," the architect added.
The third and final construction tier would concentrate on developing additional onsite parking for church patrons. According to Petrozzelli, a new parking lot would be paved at the current location of the church's convent.
While the Board of Selectmen could not reject the site plan because of the church's religious and educational designations, several town officials, including Selectman Robert Sweeney, Safety Officer Larry Rotondi, and Building Inspector Gene Argiro expressed their concerns with parking at the church.
Although Petrozzelli told the board that the church has secured agreements to utilize the IRS building and the old Central School parking lots, Rotondi was skeptical of the parking arrangements and requested that the church build the parking lot before altering the buildings.
"I'm not against the project, but I don't think they solved the parking problem. They list all these other buildings where people can park, but how can you list these other buildings when they don't own them? I'm just thinking from a liability standpoint," explained Rotondi of his concerns with the parking.
Although Argiro was satisfied with Petrozzelli's plan to cut a seven-car pull off into the church property on Central Street, allowing as many as 14 cars to double park for funerals and weddings, the Building Inspector believes the church should open up its parking lot during school hours to further alleviate traffic congestion.
"Parking has been an issue right from the start and I was the one who suggested that they cut the double row parking on Central Street. That will help some but not enough. I suggested that they use their parking lot for funerals during school hours but there's only so much I can do with Mass state law," explained Argiro, referring to the church's policy of prohibiting cars from entering the parking lot while school is in session.
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