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Archbishop Dolan was at Holy Spirit parish in Cortlandt Manor March 5 to dedicate the church building after a major renovation that increased its size by one-third in a nine-month, $3 million project.
The Mass, which included the consecration of the new granite and wood altar, was the first to be celebrated in the rebuilt church, said Father Thomas P. Kiely, the pastor, who pronounced himself and his parishioners to be “very excited” about the reopening.
New features include a baptismal font, ambo, stained-glass windows, hand-carved mahogany entry doors and new lighting. The building, which was completely gutted and reconstructed, was made disabled-accessible and a second entrance was added to accommodate large crowds. A new roof also was part of the project.
Before the work began, an extension was added to the parish center so that Masses could be held there during construction. The parish of 1,300 families financed the project through a fund-raising drive and a loan from the archdiocese. Holy Spirit was established as a parish in 1966.
