Bishop William K. Weigand gathered with members of Holy Rosary Parish in Woodland Sept. 22 to bless and dedicate the parish’s new community center, located at 575 California St.

The 21,000-square-foot building was dedicated after six years of planning and a capital fund-raising campaign.

The new 21,000-square-foot parish community center includes offices, meeting rooms, a gymnasium, a commercial kitchen and restrooms. Cathy Joyce/Herald photo

It contains the office of faith formation, a meeting room for youth and a high-school-size gymnasium with a hardwood basketball court. Included in the gymnasium is a large stage that will be used for theatrical and musical productions. The building also contains a commercial kitchen, four meeting rooms and four restrooms.

Father John Boll, pastor, called the building “a parish dream come true. Some in the community may have doubted that this building would see the light of day, but happily it is now completed.”

He said the building will be in constant use for all types of parish events and will also be available to rent for family and community celebrations.

In the spring of 2000, the parish undertook a major capital campaign to raise the money necessary to pay for the project. In addition to the money generated through the campaign, the diocese has loaned the parish the additional money needed to complete the $4.3 million project. In the spring of 2003, the parish will embark on a second capital campaign to raise the money needed to pay off the remaining debt.

Father Boll noted that in 1998 the parish renovated the former convent into the parish pastoral center that houses the offices of the parish. In 2000, the parish school got a new roof and seismic reinforcement of walls. In the summer of 2001, a new heating and air conditioning system was added to the school.

Father Boll said with the completion of the community center, the parish has achieved two-thirds of the relocation of the parish to the California Street site. The final phase, which is projected to take eight years, will be the construction of a new church facility that will have a seating capacity of at least 1,000.

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