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ATLANTA—Dr. Tim Wissler, organist at the Cathedral of Christ
the King, and Julie Grindle, assistant organist, will soon leave their
ladder-climbing days behind.
To make way for the entrance to the new gathering space, the
stairs leading to the organ and choir loft have been demolished as part of the
huge construction project at the Cathedral.
The term “climbing ladders” usually refers to a success
story and Christ the King has been involved in a success story of gigantic
proportions. A $15 million building project is now near completion, and as
construction invades the Cathedral building, it signals the beginning of the
end of a project unlike any other in the Cathedral’s history. Not since
1937, when just over 500 families came together as Christ the King Parish and
built the Cathedral and Christ the King School, has the parish undertaken such
a monumental task.
The blessing of the facilities is scheduled for the Memorial Day
weekend.
In late 1995, parishioner Roger White headed a long-range planning
committee to assess the space needs of the Cathedral because it had become
evident that Christ the King could no longer function properly with the
facilities that existed.
There was inadequate meeting space for the over 100 ministries
that the parish of 4,500 families supported and the gathering space for
parishioners consisted of a tiny vestibule. Inadequate parking put cars all
over the surrounding neighborhoods.
From prayer and planning, an initiative was created for a
three-story parish center building and a new 350-space parking deck, which
opened in time for Christmas 1999. The structures have been created in keeping
with the architecture of the present building.
The parking deck has arches that mirror the Gothic architecture of
the Cathedral and the parish center is the centerpiece of the construction
project.
The new building is faced with the same Indiana limestone that was
used on the Cathedral and cut with the same type of saw from that period. It
has an identical slate roof and has the same graceful, Gothic features of the
Cathedral. The top level adjoins the Cathedral through the vestibule, as well
as through a new door on the east side of the Cathedral. This will give the
parish a gathering space as well as a social hall, with a 350-person capacity,
for both parish and archdiocesan functions.
The second level of the parish center is for administrative staff.
Now spread out in several buildings, most of the parish offices will be on the
second level. The bottom level will house three classrooms as well as a
state-of-the-art library for the school.
The construction was funded, in part, by the archdiocesan
“Building the Church of Tomorrow” capital campaign, as well as Christ
the King’s own capital campaign. Parishioners have pledged more than $15
million to date.
In addition, Christ the King School held its own fund-raising
campaign to add five additional classrooms and a science lab and $3 million
more was pledged from parents, grandparents, friends and foundations.
As for the organists, soon they will have their stairs back,
though in a slightly different spot.
The ladder will have been climbed for the last time. |
