St. Eleanor’s Parish

Building News

RUIDOSO—Father Al Galvan, pastor of St. Eleanor’s Parish, Friday approved a decision by the Building Committee to seek a site for the new church building, abandoning plans to build on the present church site.

“It is a disappointment,” Father Al said, “but it is clear from the very hard work done by the Building Committee and by the architect that the new church will simply not fit here.”

Jim Dickinson, chairman of the Building Committee, explained that architect Jake Rodriguez had designed a building that would seat 584 and can be expanded to seat 710.

“Those are minimum requirements,” Dickinson said. “A smaller building does not make sense, not for now, and especially not for future generations.”

The building chairman said the problem surfaced when Tim Hoyt, chairman of the architecture committee, submitted the plans to the Village of Ruidoso planning department.

Hoyt reported the city ordinances require 252 spaces, while there is actually room for just 127 spaces. “The building just does not fit on this site and continuing to pursue that idea is a waste of time and contributors’ dollars,” Hoyt said.
He stressed, however, that money already spent on architect’s drawings is not wasted because the draft plan will work on whatever site is chosen.

Asked if there were a chance the city might grant a variance for that many parking spaces, Hoyt quipped, “we would be asking for a better than fifty percent variance and I have never seen them grant one that large.”

Dickinson said remodeling and expanding the current building is not an option because the city parking requirements would be enforced if expansion is undertaken.

“This puts us back to square one as far as finding a suitable site,” Dickinson commented. “There was property on Gavilan Canyon Road that had possibilities, but part of that has been purchased by the Seventh Day Adventist Church.”

The old Wal Mart and former Furr’s buildings on Highway 70 had been suggested by some parish members, Dickinson said, but they are not options. He said the Furr’s site presents the same parking problem as does our present church site, and the Wal Mart building is an old deteriorated building with a leaky roof and a price tag of $2 million as is.

“This is somewhat of a setback for the parish building committee,” Dickinson said, “but we never expected this to be easy. There will be a new church, it will get done,” he added.

If you have any suggestions for a building site please contact Jim Dickinson at 336-7822.