Following a winter of difficulties and a summer of construction, the Penn Newman Center's church, St. Agatha-St. James Catholic Church, will likely be back in commission on Saturday.
According to Campus Minister Sue Harte, the church -- which draws Catholic parishioners from West Philadelphia as well as Penn and Drexel University -- was forced to close its doors on Dec. 4, 2002, due to structural problems inside the building.
"The plaster ornamentation had been falling off the pillars," Harte said. She added that when the church repaired the leak in the roof, it ended up drying out the room, thus causing the adhesive to crack.
Since repairing the over 100-year-old church -- located at 3728 Chestnut St. -- was inevitable, Harte and her associates decided to tack on additional restorations.
While the repair was centered around the plaster, restorations included repainted relief work, etchings and paintings -- which, according to Harte, have made a noticeable difference in the church's appearance.
"We're very happy," she said. "It looks absolutely stunning."
However, though the repairs will allow students to return to their church, restoration has not come without a price.
With the inspection, repair, renovation and painting of the church interior totaling $163,580, and the repair of the east and west gothic towers costing an additional $32,280, St. Agatha-St. James is in need of funds.
"Our priest approached the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and asked for the money to rebuild the church," College senior and Newman Center Council President Anne McKnight said. "The Archdiocese gave us a loan to fix the church, but the church has to pay [it] back."
According to McKnight, the parish and Council are working hard to pay back the loan, and have already held several fundraising events including a Bingo night, semi-formal, used textbook sale and special collection at Mass.
But according to students, returning to the church is well worth the renovation expenses.
McKnight said she received a preview of the newly finished church when it was in the midst of construction.
"It looked really, really nice," she said. "You could see a huge difference" between the half of the church that had already been painted and the half that hadn't.
Since December, though, Masses have been held in the Penn Newman Center which, according to staff and students, is a less than stunning location.
"It was tight, and a little clumsy at times," Harte said. "People fit, but it's not the same as having a church."
McKnight added that, in addition to the space problem, the Newman Center was not as aesthetically pleasing as St. Agatha-St. James.
"The bigger Masses would be downstairs in the basement, and that didn't really look like a chapel at all," she said. "We just had the altar and chairs" set up. "I'm really excited to get back" to the church.
For College sophomore and Newman Council Treasurer Brian McCarthy, mass at the Newman Center had a different "feel" to it than it had at the church.
"Even though the Mass itself [was] still the same, I miss[ed] the beautiful surroundings and feel of a church," McCarthy wrote in an e-mail.
Wharton sophomore Brian Vo, who attends services on a regular basis, said that he is also eager to return to the church.
"Going into the daily chapel in the Newman Center, the atmosphere doesn't really lend itself to the greatest experience you could have," Vo said.
Despite their current debt, students and staff remain hopeful for the possibility of further repairs in the future.
"There's a lot more work that still needs to be done," Harte said. "Each of the windows needs to be re-grouted." They're "not in grave danger, but certainly need to be done."
"There's always room for improvement, and we are constantly trying to improve the buildings," McKnight added. "But it's hard because we have college students and West Philadelphia parishioners," most of whom have "limited funds."
