October 6, 2010

Christ the King to bless $4.4 million facility

By John Gleason

The parishioners at Christ the King Church in Evergreen will be celebrating Oct. 19 as they dedicate their new parish center. 

The event will include Mass said by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M Cap., and the dedication and blessing of the facility followed by a parish picnic.

The idea for the nearly $4.4 million, 17,000-square-foot center started in 2004, according to Chris Moore, pastoral assistant of the parish. 

“We’ve seen a gradual and consistent increase in the number of people who attend Christ the King,” he told the Denver Catholic Register.  “The parish had grown to more than 1,100 families and we found ourselves running out of room.  Formal talks about a new parish hall began about six years ago and in 2009 we broke ground.”

Nebraska architect firm Bahr Vermeer Haecker designed the center while Catamount Constructors of Evergreen, Colo., handled the construction duties, he said.

Father Christopher Renner told the Register he’s pleased with the way the new center turned out.

“Now we have a facility that provides not only new office and education areas, but a greater social space,” he said. “Christ the King is right in the middle of Evergreen and this center will allow us to serve the greater community—that’s one of our goals, setting a foundation for the community for the coming decades.”
Construction proved to be a challenge, according to Moore, noting that construction was essentially taking place on a big rock on the side of steep hill. Despite that obstacle, the new center stands ready to do its job.

“I can’t overstate how excited the people are with this new facility,” he said.

Established as Christ the King mission in 1924 the first log chapel was completed in 1935.  The mission became a parish in its own right in 1951.  A new parish hall was blessed by then-Archbishop Urban Vehr in 1956 by which time the parish had grown to 150 families.  Ground was broken for a new 500-seat church and parish hall complex in 1970, which was dedicated by Archbishop James Casey the following year.

Moore said the hall will be used for church functions and will centralize the parish offices.

“Up to now, we’ve been spread across several buildings,” he said. “Now everyone is together in one place, we have new kitchen facilities, handicapped accessible classrooms and a 1,600-square-foot youth center.”

For the new building, the parish commissioned religious artist Lynn Kircher to create a new statue for the entryway.  The work, titled “Our Lady of the Sun, Moon and Stars” is, in Moore’s opinion, the artist’s best work.

“It’s from the image described in Revelation, ‘A great sign appeared in the sky, a  woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of 12 stars (12:1),” he said.  “It’s a great showpiece that people will see when they first walk in the door.”

The parish hall in fact will have several new works of art adorning the interior, including a second Kircher work—St. Francis of Assisi—as well as an 80-year-old mosaic of Christ the King.

“It was created in Florence, Italy, in the early 1930s and has been in a parish in Boston for most of that time,” Moore said.  “When the parish closed and the artwork was removed, we decided to give it a home.”

The dedication and blessing of the new Christ the King Parish Hall, 4291 Evergreen Parkway in Evergreen, begins at 11 a.m. on Oct. 19 with Mass.  A picnic and reception will immediately follow.