LONG BEACH – There’s no place like home and, before year’s end, through the grace of God and the determination of its parishioners, St. Thomas the Apostle Parish will return to its beachfront home.

           On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed St. Thomas the Apostle Church, as well as the school, rectory and parish life center. Since that time, the parish has moved its base of operations to a converted skating rink on Daughtery Road, which it rents from the Knights of Columbus for the grand sum of one dollar a year, while the school, after operating for a while in the Daughtery Road location, has since merged with St. Paul School in Pass Christian, which was also destroyed, to form St. Vincent de Paul School, which is located on Espy Avenue in Long Beach.

            “I think there are two sides to returning back to the beach,” said St. Thomas pastor Father Louie Lohan.

            “There’s the fear of leaving (the Daughtery Road location). We have become accustomed to this location. It’s a very homely church and it’s intimate. We know one another, even though we have to fight for parking places, but we’ve become accustomed to a very close way of life together. And, now, we’re headed down to the beach where it’s going to be bigger and broader and we’re going to be more apart from one another and have more space between our elbows, but it’s a real beacon of hope for us. It’s a transition, a change and, with that change, I think, comes real new hope.”

            The new church, community center and administrative wing are being built in tandem at a cost of approximately $15 million

            The general contractor for the project is GM&R Construction of Waveland. Hank Martinez is the project manager

            Architects for the project are Blitch Knevel Architects of New Orleans and Eley Guild Hardy of Biloxi, which serves as the local administrative architects.

            Diocesan construction managers Steve LeBarre and Jack Rousso approved a list of roughly nine subcontractors who are also working on various aspects of the project.

            According to Rousso, the new church will seat approximately 800 people and will have a full complement of liturgical amenities for a large church.

            According to Rousso, contracts for an audio-visual music system and landscaping are being signed this week. The contracts for the pews and stained glass windows have already been awarded.

            “These are big steps forward,” said Rousso.

            The community center will seat approximately 400.

            The administrative wing has conference rooms and offices for the administrative staff.

            Travel down Hwy 90 past the construction site and it is readily apparent that the workers are making tremendous progress.

            “The steel construction of all the buildings is complete. The base roof is complete and we’re beginning to install the finished roof,” said Rousso. “The second week in February, we started pouring the concrete slabs for the church and the community center.”

            Construction started in April and, as far as a completion date is concerned, according to Rousso, the critical path announced by the general contractor is Oct. 1, 2010.

            “We’ve had very little lost time and we’ve had a perfect safety record,” said Rousso, who added that the project has passed all OSHA inspections to date.

            So far, weather delays, Rousso said, have been less than two weeks.

            There are some aspects of the new church that Rousso refers to as “significant architecture”.

            “The roof of the bell tower was topped last week,” he said. “A digital bell system will be installed in the bell tower. The original bell of the parish, cast in 1907, is being retrofitted by the foundry that cast the bell in Maryland and it will be installed as a ceremonial bell.

            “The grotto that was on the parish property was successfully moved to the north entrance to the church property and it will be landscaped as a prayer grotto,” Rousso added.

            From Hwy 90, motorists will also be able to see a fountain with pulsating jets of water.

            Building back on the beachfront property was important, Father Lohan said, because of the location’s historical significance.

            “It has 100 years of history,” he said, dating back to the arrival of the Vincentians and the Daughters of Charity.

            “I also really think it’s a beacon of hope for people as they pass up and down Hwy 90. There’s something sacred about a church on your journey, on your road, as you travel and I think this new church will be beautiful and it will be a real sign of the presence of God and the house of the Lord.”

            Father Lohan also believes that the new church will be a beacon for seafarers.

            “For years, people out in the bay have always said that the old church was a kind of a lighthouse for them or guidance and I think that this is also going to be very much a beacon for them out there too. It will be a landmark – something they can follow – but it’ll be a great reminder for them. You’re out in the beauty of the bay and you look and you see the house of God. I think it ties a lot of stuff together – creation.” 

            As for future storms and how the St. Thomas facilities might fare in such events, Rousso is confident that every measure has been taken to insure that the structures are sound.

            “This building is a welded steel structure. All of the welds have been electronically inspected,” said Rousso.

            “Other considerations, with respect to concrete and elevation above FEMA calculated base flood elevation and wave line, have been incorporated into the design of the construction of the buildings.

            “There is always some risk in coastal construction,” added Rousso. “However, the thrust of this project was to preserve the history of the parish, which has been on the beach for 100 years and, improve the design of the earlier structures, while at the same time, with the use of modern architecture and engineering, minimizing the risk in future storms."

            Father Lohan said he is very grateful to the Knights of Columbus for letting the parish use the Daughtery Road facility, but is anxious to move back to the beach.

            “I’d like to thank the people of the parish for rallying behind the decision because it was a decision that we struggled with,” he said. “There were some for it and some against it. I think that the people of Long Beach are delighted to see the church come back up there, but our own community, while they may disagree or have disagreed, have rallied in behind it and I think we have a unanimous push forward to go back on the beach.”