St. Mary’s makes plans for new home

The last pre-20th century catholic church building in the Amarillo Diocese was demolished here Monday as St. Mary’s parishioners make plans to be in a new home by the end of next spring.

The 1892 building that has housed the Texas Panhandle’s oldest catholic church was torn down after being severely damaged by an automobile more than two years ago.

Preservation architect Chuck Lynch told the Enterprise he knew the building had to come down after surveying the damage that had been done to it.

“It was one of the most dangerous things that I’ve seen,” Lynch said.

Looking at the building not long after the accident, Lynch said he told parishioners that he was concerned about anything of value inside the building because, he said, “it’s going to fall down.”

Lynch the automobile had traveled about 40 feet, missed trees, and then struck the side of the building concaving the east wall and convexing the west wall. Lynch said the floor was damaged and stress had been put on the roof.

“There was very little foundation to the building,” he said. “There was no engineering done in 1892, and someone at some point had tried to level the building and left leveling jacks under it. That was all that was really holding it up.”

Lynch said fixing the building would have cost three times what building a new building would cost, and the old building was no longer meeting the needs of the church.

“There was very little plumbing, no bathrooms,” Lynch said. “You couldn’t get a wheel chair down the side aisles.”

Church members have also noted that the building had suffered several bad remodeling jobs over the last century, particularly the removal of the original gothic church and bell tower.

Several elements of the original church were salvaged from the building, including the restored high alter, the stained glass windows, some original flooring, and some original bead board that was found behind drywall. Those items and other will be worked into the new building in a way that Lynch says will honor the past.

“We’re trying to rebuild in honor of what was there originally but with modern codes,” he said. “Original elements will be a nice tribute. The new building will also have a proper sacristy and confessional and should be more functional than the old church.”

The new building will connect to the church’s new Parish Hall and will seat up to 140 where only about 60 could fit into the old building.

Prior to Monday’s demolition, Bishop Patrick Zurek prayed with parishioners outside of the old building and asked God’s blessing on the work ahead. Father Arokia Raj Samala oversaw the demolition of the building and kept a close eye on its progress.