ATLANTA--The Cathedral of Christ the King opened its new three-story parking deck the weekend of Dec. 18, giving parishioners and visitors a much-needed additional 350 parking spaces.

Under construction for the past six months, the deck will only be open on weekends for the next month while Beck Construction Group completes final touches during the weekdays. The goal was to be able to have the facility functional by the Christmas holiday, when most churches experience their peak crowds.

The parish worked with the Atlanta architectural firm of Surber, Barber, Choate & Hertlein and the design firm of Carl Walker to maintain a facade that matches the cathedral’s style and makes the structure as unobtrusive as possible to the nearby community. The parking deck is across Peachtree Way from the cathedral.

Though a welcome addition, the deck will not totally solve the parking shortage, as many of the cathedral’s weekend Masses are standing room only. The parish began offering a shuttle service to its parishioners two years ago to help alleviate the parking shortage. The transportation option, dubbed “The Mass Mobile,” will continue to be available to Mass-goers.

The parking deck was funded through the Archdiocese of Atlanta’s 1997 “Building the Church of Tomorrow” Capital Campaign. The cathedral is also using the funds generated from this drive to make improvements to its school and parish center, which will be completed by mid-2000.