The SSPX parish in St Mary’s Kansas is set to build what will be the largest church in Kansas. The design draws inspiration from the Romanesque style, which was dominant in Europe from approximately the 9th to the 13th century. The project, according to the website created to showcase it (discover.anewimmaculata.org), will cost a projected $30 million. This money has already been raised and, notably, 80% of it has come from parish community itself., which currently numbers around 4,000 people. The seating capacity of the new church will be about 1,500; here are some of the architect’s drawings taken from the website.
I have often heard it said to that beauty comes at a premium and that is why modern buildings are so ugly. We wait to see the completion of this project, of course, but assuming that it goes ahead as planned, this project seems to demonstrate the opposite. If the will and the know-how are there, money is not the problem. For comparison, $250 million (the cost at completion in 2002) was lavished upon the eyesore that is the cathedral of Los Angeles, which has a capacity of 3,000 people.
And $175 million was splashed out between 2005 and 2008 on Oakland’s Cathedral of Light, which seats 1,300. In case you have trouble distinguishing the cathedral from the office buildings, it is in the center, and no, the silver VW Beetle is not liturgical.
I assume it costs more to build in Los Angeles or Oakland than it does in Kansas, but nevertheless, who do you think is getting value for money here?
