Akron.com

St. Francis breaks ground on new center



Photos courtesy of St. Francis de Sales Parish

COVENTRY — St. Francis de Sales Parish hosted a formal groundbreaking ceremony for the Memorare Center June 7. The new 7,000-square-foot building will provide meeting space for groups and consolidate parish offices, according to parish officials. Campbell Construction has been awarded the contract to build the facility and SoL Harris/Day Architects is the principal building designer.
The new building is being funded through the Memorare Center Building Campaign, which was initiated in November 2018, to provide a facility to strengthen St. Francis de Sales’ parish life and mission, as well as make necessary repairs to current facilities. To date, the campaign has raised $1.76 million.
“As our parish turned 70, it became very apparent things needed to be taken care of to live a spiritually fruitful life,” said the Rev. G. David Bline. “It is now time for us to not only be grateful for what we have received for 70-plus years, but also to prepare our church for today and where God is leading us to serve in the future.”
Shown above right are Bline, at left, and the Rev. Jeremy Merzweiler in front of the construction signage and area where the Memorare Center will be built.
Bline recently left, after serving the parish for 13 years, 10 of those years as the pastor, to assume the role of spiritual director at St. Mary Seminary in Cleveland. Merzweiler, who has served as a parochial vicar at St. Ambrose Parish in Brunswick and St. Gabriel in Concord Township, assumed the duties of administrator at the parish July 1.
Officials stated St. Francis de Sales was founded in 1948 with 500 parishioners and has grown to over 1,930 registered families. The parish school, for preschoolers through eighth-graders, had 348 students for the 2019-20 school year.