St. Francis Assisi in hopes for a worship place

Intermountain Catholic

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Soledad Tachiquin and her grandson sell food outside the St. Francis Assisi gymnasium in Orem. Tachiquin and her family donate half of their sales to the fund for the construction of their new church. IC photo by Priscilla Cabral

OREM — The Saint Francis Assisi church was more than 80 years old of a Spanish-mission architecture that made it a historic treasure for Provo. "It had the statue (of Saint Francis) in the corner, a staircase in the entrance, and a pretty tower," said Soledad Tachiquin. What now prevails instead of the church is a ‘for sale’ sign.

"It still makes me sad when I pass by it… but the people didn’t fit in there anymore," she said.

The community of St. Francis Assisi outgrew the church and had to look for other options to make Mass participation more comfortable.

"The building didn’t have a sound structure…it would have cost over a million dollars to make the structure sound. And it would still be small and we could not expand it," said Father David Bittmenn, current pastor.

The congregation decided to sell the property and move to Orem, where they have a gymnasium, which is part of a construction plan that includes a chapel with the capacity of 1,000 people, a sacristy, and a cry room.

But this plan has been balked.

The old building was in the Landmarks of Provo list – something the church never approved – but its demolition was necessary to speed up its sale and get the funds for the construction of the new church.

Father Michael R. Sciumbato, then pastor of St. Francis requested the old church be taken off the historic list and let it be demolished. The City Council voted to delist the church if the Historic Provo Preservation Foundation did not raise enough funds to buy the property: $1.2 million for the church and $50,000 for Landmark Partners, the prospective buyers by April 18, 2007.

The Historic Provo Preservation Foundation says it had the money to save the building, but Fr. Bittmenn says the foundation missed deadline after deadline. "We waited several months but there was always a glitch in the system."

The building was demolished July 9, 2007, but the negotiations between the Catholic Church and Landmark Partners ended and the property was not sold. Until now, a sale has not been fulfilled.

"I have sold the property around 21 times, but they have all fallen through," said Tommy George, the parish’s real estate agent. He said the zoning of the lot has been a major problem in selling it. "We have three houses (residential zone) and a 3/4 acre commercial zone," said George, who has divided the property to sell the houses and the commercial zone individually.

Meanwhile, both the construction costs and the congregation at St. Francis are increasing. The parish needs to raise 60% of the cost of the new church before its construction is approved. As of today, $1.3 million of the $6 million it is estimated to cost have been raised.

The parish has maintained a second collection to raise funds. It also has food sales and other activities. "We had a huge Cinco de Mayo celebration with food, games, and music. And a lot of meat, we literally had a ton of meat," said Fr. Bittmenn.

The next fundraising activities will include a craft fair on September 27, and the feast of St. Francis Assisi on October 4.

Additionally, the parish has received donations from parents whose children have received the sacraments, and has the support of fervent and hard-working parishioners like Tachiquin and her family.

In 2005, Tachiquin was in a coma for a month and was hospitalized for a total of three months. When her health improved, she promised God she would be at the service of the Church and priests.

Since then, she puts a food stall every weekend outside the gymnasium where Mass is celebrated and donates half of her sales. "We are here on Saturday from 9 in the morning until 8:30 at night. We are here on Sunday too, from 9 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon," said Tachiquin.

She said her main motivation to continue working is her love for the Catholic faith. "We don’t want our religion to die – Mormons work really hard. I tell my children the only thing I’m leaving behind for them is my religion."

Tachiquin has been a member of the parish for over 15 years and, like many others, remembers the old building with nostalgia.

"We are planning a new building with enough space for (the parishioners) that will be Spanish-mission style because we are aware a lot of people have a connection with the old church," said Fr. Bittmenn.

The parish hopes to either sell the property or raise enough funds to start construction of the new church within two or three years.