Plans Unveiled For New Catholic Church
By Jo Deeks on Thursday, 9th June 2005.
Exciting plans to build a new Catholic church at Haverhill have been unveiled.
But the existing St Felix Parish Centre in Withersfield Road will have to be sold to help pay for it.
Father Michael Teader, of St Felix Church, said it had been sad to give three months notice to groups using the hall, which would expire at the end of June, but it was the only way that the new building could be funded. The former Corn Exchange is a Grade 2 listed building, which was not practical to try and convert into a church and did not have adequate parking space available.
Father Michael said: "It is a beautiful building and we would be very happy if something could be done to retain it as a facility for the town, it is part of the history of Haverhill. It would be ideal as a museum for the history group to run, if the town council or the county council could buy it for that purpose.
At the end of June we shall be getting an agent to look into selling it for us.
We have got plans for a new church in Haverhill, as the one we have got at the moment is inadequate. It was always a temporary building, and is reaching the end of its lifetime after about 40 years. We moved there in the 1960's from a little wooden hut where Horace Eves Close is now.
We have got to do something now as our congregation is so big we just need bigger premises, it is standing room only on a Sunday. We don't really want to sell the centre, but unless we do we cannot raise the capital to build a new church.
We have permission from the diocese for a new church and we have looked at several sites, but we may build where we are in Princess Way.
We hope to see it built in the next year to two years, but until we have a plan of what it will be like we cannot start fund-raising.
Our congregation has changed dramatically, years ago it was all Irish and English people, but now we also have Africans and Indians, alot of them working at the hospital."
But the existing St Felix Parish Centre in Withersfield Road will have to be sold to help pay for it.
Father Michael Teader, of St Felix Church, said it had been sad to give three months notice to groups using the hall, which would expire at the end of June, but it was the only way that the new building could be funded. The former Corn Exchange is a Grade 2 listed building, which was not practical to try and convert into a church and did not have adequate parking space available.
Father Michael said: "It is a beautiful building and we would be very happy if something could be done to retain it as a facility for the town, it is part of the history of Haverhill. It would be ideal as a museum for the history group to run, if the town council or the county council could buy it for that purpose.
At the end of June we shall be getting an agent to look into selling it for us.
We have got plans for a new church in Haverhill, as the one we have got at the moment is inadequate. It was always a temporary building, and is reaching the end of its lifetime after about 40 years. We moved there in the 1960's from a little wooden hut where Horace Eves Close is now.
We have got to do something now as our congregation is so big we just need bigger premises, it is standing room only on a Sunday. We don't really want to sell the centre, but unless we do we cannot raise the capital to build a new church.
We have permission from the diocese for a new church and we have looked at several sites, but we may build where we are in Princess Way.
We hope to see it built in the next year to two years, but until we have a plan of what it will be like we cannot start fund-raising.
Our congregation has changed dramatically, years ago it was all Irish and English people, but now we also have Africans and Indians, alot of them working at the hospital."
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