MOVING FORWARD
Church prepares to get started on new building
St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Edmond prepares to get started on its new building
DEDMOND — irt work has begun on local church property near the corner of Covell Road and Broadway.
St. Mary's Episcopal Church hopes to build its new building at the site.
The Rev. Mark Story, St. Mary's rector, said the church will take its revised plans for the property to the Edmond City Council in September to get the OK for a building permit.
Story said the church had hoped to be further along with the construction project, but city leaders
wanted to discuss certain details about the Covell Road property.
“When we presented our plans, they had more questions than we anticipated. It just caught us by surprise,” Story said. “The plan had to be sent back to be revised, so that was the delay.”
He said the city has certain requirements for trees, and those have now been met.
Story said the church needs the building permit and the approval of the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma to begin construction. He's hoping those two issues will be handled in September so the building project may move forward in earnest.
St. Mary's project is the result of a property agreement between the
church and the University of Central Oklahoma.
The two organizations essentially agreed to swap property in 2016.
The congregation of St. Mary's Episcopal Church agreed to swap its 3 acres of property at 325 E First to adjacent UCO in exchange for 23 acres of property near Broadway and Covell Road, plus $1.4 million.
The agreement was designed to give land-locked St. Mary's an opportunity to move closer to St. Mary's School at 505 E Covell Road, and it will alleviate parking concerns for the congregation. Church members have parked in nearby parking lots for many years, and UCO eventually purchased one nearby property and allowed the congregation to park there on Sunday mornings. At the time, UCO leaders agreed to lease the First Street property to St. Mary's for up to three years to give the congregation time to move.
University leaders said they had no specific plans for the St. Mary's property.
On the move
Under the terms of the 2016 agreement, the church had until the end of 2019 to move, but Story said the university graciously gave the church more time because of the delays with the city.
Adrienne Nobles, UCO's assistant vice president for communications, said the university granted the extension because “it was the right thing to do. Our work with Father Mark and the church has always been collaborative, and a six-month extension to allow them to finalize their plans for a new church home was reasonable.”
Now the church is preparing for that move.
“Our plan was to have it all done by now,” Story said.
He said the church has to be out of the building by April 2020 so church members are now working to determine what items will go with with them to the new facility.
Story said the new building won't be completed until at least a year from the start of construction so St. Mary's will move its office to St. Mary's School. He said the congregation will begin worshiping at the school in May 2020 until the new building is completed.
With preparations for the move under way, the congregation is excited.
Story said the new church property has access to the school, an element that was a big plus for church members.
He said the church will be about 17,000 square feet and include a bell tower and courtyard. The church will have plenty of parking. “We were stuck,” Story said. “Moving out here, we have a future.”