New church, school on the horizon for Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church

It’s been a dream since Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church became a parish in January 2007 to build a new church and a school. That dream moved closer to reality with the purchase of 34 acres of land by the Diocese of Tucson’s Our Future, Our Hope, Our Faith capital campaign.

The site, which is off of Porter Road and east of Adams Way near Pacana Park in the Glennwilde neighborhood, was purchased for $775,000.

“We now have a definite place where we can focus our plans for the future of our parish,” Father Marcos Velasquez told his parishioners recently.

Our Lady of Grace has hired an architect to draw up site layout drawings. Once finalized by the parish, the plans will be sent to the Diocese of Tucson for approval. This should happen sometime in January, explained Wayne Santi, the parish’s assistant administrator.

It should take about 30 days for the Diocese’s building and finance committee to approve the site plan, Santi said. Once the financing is in place, it should take about a year to build the first phase of the $3.1 million dollar project, which will include the infrastructure for the property, an administration building and a 500-seat church.

Santi said they are starting a feasibility study for a K-8 school, which could be home to 500 students.

“This will be a separate project, funded through grant money and foundations. But we don’t need a brick and mortar building to start the school.”

File photo