Dec 14, 2018 4 min read

BROWNSVILLE – At one time, Brownsville had two social centers for its Roman Catholic parishioners – one at St. Peter’s, the other at St. Mary’s.

But since 2002, when St. Mary’s was demolished due to structural weaknesses, the town’s Catholics had nowhere to meet for social occasions. The hall at St. Peter’s had been demolished earlier to make way for a parking lot.

All that started to change nearly three years ago when plans began percolating to build a new multi-purpose parish center for The Historic Church St. Peter’s on a space next to the current parish office building on Church Street.

“I don’t know of a single parish in the Pittsburgh or Greensburg diocese that doesn’t have a social hall,” said the Rev. Timothy Kruthaupt, who serves as pastor. “We’ve had a void here and needed a place where people can meet and socialize rather than just smile at or nod to one another in the church pews. We need a place to build community.”

In April and again in November, presentations were made to the pastoral and finance councils and the church building committee informing them of the cost to build, maintain and operate the facility. After the first presentation, the church launched a capital campaign last spring called “Upon This Rock” with a goal of raising $800,000 with a stretch goal of $1 million. By August, the campaign had raised nearly $1.18 million in gifts and pledges.

“We had five receptions at the church in which attendees were given packets with commitment envelopes,” Kruthaupt said. “We also tried to contact former parishioners who had moved away with letters that offered them incentives to donate. I’m so proud of how everyone stepped up so unbelievably to support the project.”

At the moment, the church houses its administrative functions and ministries in crowded conditions in the old St. Mary’s convent, next to where the new parish center will be built. The church supports two food banks in Brownsville, provides clothing for the needy and Christmas gifts for children. As a result, much of the lower floor is used for the storage of clothing, non-perishable food and Christmas gifts used to support the church ministries, which compete for space with religious education classes.

“Somehow we’ve been trying to stay on top of it all,” Kruthaupt said.

The new parish center will address much of this overcrowding as plans call for inclusion of a social hall for up to 300 people, an industrial kitchen and related facilities, meeting areas for parish organizations and ministries, five religious education classrooms, and recreational and office space.

According to Kruthaupt, the proposed gymnasium on the first floor will meet all the qualifications for a high school gym with bleachers donated by the Redstone gym in Republic and space for basketball, volleyball, soccer and adult pickle ball.

The mezzanine level will have classrooms and space for a library and parish archives.

A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled at 1 p.m. Sunday at 118 Church St., next to the current parish office building, which is the former convent. Diocese of Greensburg Bishop Edward Malesic will bless the site in a ceremony hosted by Kruthaupt and St. Peter’s parishioners.

“The center will be a catalyst for the parish,” Kruthaupt said. “It will open doors to new ministries and services for everyone in the parish from youth to seniors. It will also help bring in people who are not parishioners and introduce them to our ministries.”

The new center will be a prefabricated, steel building built by Maccabee Industrial of Belle Vernon with a projected completion date sometime this fall, depending on the weather.

“Every autumn we hold our parish picnic, and it would be great to inaugurate the center with the picnic as our very first event.” Kruthaupt said.