Day of reckoning at hand for 1910 Catholic church

By Mike Howell-Staff writer

To many, it's just an old church.

Not architecturally pleasing, not ornate in its detail.

It has a simple brick facade, coloured-glass windows instead of stained glass and a flat, poorly built roof that has leaked since its longest-serving pastor, Father Louis Forget, delivered his first mass in the fall of 1917.

So, it's time.

St. Patrick's Catholic church, near the intersection of 12th and Main, will be demolished this summer and replaced by a bigger version that will seat almost 700 people instead of the current 450.

For Dorothy Deshaw, whose family has attended the church since 1919, demolition of the 1910 building is like the passing of an old friend. Her brothers and sisters were married in the church, nieces and nephews were baptized there and she was active in church groups. Deshaw also recalls card parties, bazaars and plays in the church basement.

"I'm still going to that church today and have a lot of memories from when I was young until now," said Deshaw, who is in her 80s. "It has been a special place to our family."

But Deshaw is not about to protest the church's demolition. The church is not on the City of Vancouver's heritage list and the parish has no plans to apply for such designation.

Over the years, upgrades were made to the building, but it has since deteriorated to the point where its back plaster wall is in danger of crumbling. The shingle panels on the outside of church are also in disrepair.

"I hope the new church is ready before the old one falls down," said Deshaw.

The $6-million new church, scheduled to open in May, is being built just east of the old one and faces Main Street. Instead of the lathe and plaster used to build the old building, the new church will be supported by concrete, accented by carved Celtic masonry on its outside pillars.

A towering skylight steeple in the church's entrance will complement the large windows, designed to shed lots of natural light into the 25,000 square-foot structure. The new church will feature two chapels, a parish hall, several offices, meeting rooms and a sidewalk-level cafe, facing Main Street.

Outside, a small courtyard will be shadowed by a 25.5-metre tower dedicated to Father Forget, who served the church from 1917 to 1960 and was responsible for attracting hundreds of parishioners.

"He was the solid rock, he was St. Patrick's church," Deshaw recalled.

"He was a great worker, a very spiritual person. I don't think that man ever took a holiday."

Father Don Larson, the church's current leader, said the old church's demise comes at a time when the congregation is growing, making for crowded masses. About 2,000 people attend mass regularly. "The congregation is way too big for the old building," said Larson, who joined St. Patrick's in 1995.

That growth has come largely from the Filipino community, which makes up about 75 per cent of the congregation. Like the Irish, Italian and French before them, who settled in the mid and upper Main Street area, the Filipino community has grown through immigration.

"Certainly our parish and many others have benefited from Asian immigration," said Larson, who added that a chapel in the new church will be devoted to San Lorenzo Ruiz, the Philippines' only canonized saint.

Larson also serves with Father Vicente Borre, a Filipino who occasionally leads special services in Tagalog for the Filipino community. Like Deshaw, Filipino parishioners Betty Garchitorena and Bella Cagayat are anxious to see the new church built.

Garchitorena arrived in Vancouver in 1973 and Cagayat arrived in 1988, both drawn to the church because of its connection to the Filipino community and its reputation. But the old church will not be forgotten.

"We're trying to do what we can to establish a connection between the new and the old," Larson said.

A large glass-encased plaque in the lobby of the old church pays homage to parishioners who died while fighting in the world wars. Names such as McDonald, Giroux and Trasolini are all there.

That plaque, some of the church's statues, its only stained-glass window and a tabernacle donated by the family of flamboyant, wealthy U.S. entertainer Texas Guinan ("Queen of the New York Nightclubs") will be moved into the new church.

As the story goes, Guinan died while undergoing an emergency operation in Vancouver for an unknown illness. A newspaper article written in 1993 indicates Father Forget ministered Guinan's last rights just hours before her death.

In return for his devotion, the Guinan family donated the tabernacle. The rest of the church's furniture and other miscellaneous items will be sold at a demolition sale, probably in the summer.

Once the church is demolished, the parish has plans to build a gymnasium for St. Patrick's elementary school on the same site.