Published: May 11, 2008 12:38 am            

LEWISTON: Shrine to get big lift

First phase of $3 million expansion to be finished by Thanksgiving

by DAN MINER

minerd@gnnewspaper.com

A roughly $3 million expansion is set to be announced at Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Lewiston.

“The shrine has become a very important spiritual oasis here in Western New York,” Father Julio Ciavaglia said. “And so with the many people that come to visit the shrine we’ve found that we have to expand and improve to make it a little more friendly for those who come to make a pilgrimage.”

The expansion, approved several weeks ago by the shrine’s building committee, will take place in three phases. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held at the shrine on May 18.

Picone Construction Corporation, the Williamsville-based contractor that will do work at the site, will be completing a 4,800-square-foot addition around the existing sacristy, including a new chapel, toilet rooms, confessionals and a new ambulatory around the main building, according to a release from the company. New granite block and limestone archways, columns and sills will be installed on the exterior and skylights will be placed on the roof.

In eventual phases, two new chapels will be built to accommodate the frequent groups of visitors who visit with their own priest. The first phase will be finished by Thanksgiving, but the whole project should take several years, Ciavaglia said.

“It will improve the shrine in the sense that it’s more accommodating for the people who came and we can accommodate more people at the same time,” he said. “We’ll have more services that can go on at the same time.”

The new ambulatory will allow people to walk to the side chapels without entering the shrine, he said. The current extra chapels, which are small, will become candle rooms.

“By making these larger that means we can accommodate groups of people while other services are going on simultaneously,” he said.

Contact reporter Dan Miner

at 282-2311, ext. 2263.

        

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