Sacred Heart makes additions to parish, school

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
Nov. 9, 2006

SPENCER - Renovations and additions at Sacred Heart Parish in Spencer are near completion.

According to Father Ed Murray, pastor at Sacred Heart in Spencer, the projects at the parish began before he moved to Spencer in July. Construction began in the spring of 2006.

Father Roger Linnan, previous pastor, was part of the planning during his time at the parish.

"This wouldn't have been possible without Father Linnan," said Robin Barber, a parishioner and member of the design committee. "He was the driving force that got us these new, wonderful spaces in our church."

The renovations include an expanded parish hall, changes to the gathering space, a carport and a new preschool room added to the school.

A design committee composed of about eight parishioners, a liturgical consultant (a church architect from Wisconsin) and the architect were involved in the planning of the renovations. Paul Maurer of Architects Collaborative in Spencer and parishioner at Sacred Heart is the architect.

Barber noted that Maurer spent "endless time working on it and really put his heart into it due to the fact that he is a parishioner. He really made it blend with our church. It looks like it was part of the original design."

A drive was conducted and parishioners pledged money to make the project possible.

"The parish hall was the first part of the expansion. They removed the garages that were over in that section," said Father Murray. "I am assuming that much of that was the need that people had to have a parish hall. The parish hall we did have was very small and wouldn't accommodate a funeral dinner let alone a wedding or anything else."

He added that the need was there to expand the parish hall since there are so many activities that are held in a parish hall. Father Murray pointed out that the parish hall is already booked for many upcoming events.

"We have always had to go somewhere else and rent another place for things like our fall festival because we didn't have the facility to house that," said Father Murray.

He continued that for various reasons it was inconvenient not to have a parish hall that was able to hold many people. The hall will now allow for large gatherings and meetings. There is a full-service kitchen as well.

Not only is there a large room but there is a smaller room with a fireplace where meetings, RCIA classes, anniversary dinners, etc. may be held. This room is also equipped with a sink, dishwasher and coffee pot access for smaller gatherings. It is also an overflow space for the larger room.

The parish hall is slated to be completed in time for the fall festival being held on Nov. 18.

As for the other renovations, the previous gathering space was a smaller space enclosed by windows.

"I think the expansion of the gathering space was for liturgical purposes," said the priest. "They felt the need was there to open that area up and make it larger. They decided to expand that and put on a carport." He added that there was much discussion about where to put the carport.

Father Murray noted that the decision to add a preschool room to the school was done independently. There was not a previous preschool room.

A dedication ceremony will be planned at a later date. Father Murray pointed out that no plans have been made since there is not a for sure date of completion.