WORK ON ARMENIAN CHURCH WINDING DOWN
By Emanuel Parker Staff Writer
Whittier Daily News, CA
July 23 2007
PASADENA – A flurry of activity and noise surrounds St. Gregory the
Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church as dozens of workers scramble
to meet a September deadline to complete a massive renovation project.
Construction crews unloaded trucks stacked with marble floor tiles
Friday, while other workers hauled sacks of cement, fused metal parts
with torches and noisily hammered steel pieces into place.
Scheduled to be completed two years ago, the sanctuary is now on track
to be consecrated Sept. 8 and 9. On Oct. 1, His Holiness Karekin II,
Catholicos of All Armenians and head of the worldwide Armenian Church,
will visit St. Gregory, 2215 E. Colorado Blvd., to consecrate the
main altar.
The Rev. Baret Yeretzian, who was recently appointed to head the
church, is charged with making sure the sanctuary is finished on time.
"Well, management, of course, and the financial situation – things
like this have been the main reason for the delay," he said. "It
should have been finished almost two years ago. But it wasn’t, so I’m
the new pastor. I’m working very, very hard to make sure we (meet)
the new deadline."
Construction began in 2005 and was scheduled to be completed by year’s
end. The original budget was $2.2 million, but Yeretzian said the
final cost will be nearly $5 million.
But, he said, for Pasadena’s Armenian population of between 25,000
and 30,000 residents, it is worth it.
"The Armenian church is the fortress of our faith," he said. "Without
the Armenian church, the Armenian people would not survive. It’s
linked, intermingled together – the church and our people."
Designed by John Byram of Pasadena, St. Gregory’s will be the
largest Armenian church in Southern California once the renovation
is completed. Its dome will stand 94 feet high, second only in height
to the one atop City Hall. It will be crowned with a 7-foot-tall cross.
Original plans called for a 16,000-square-foot building, but Yeretzian
said the finished structure will be slightly smaller than that.
The church has been in Pasadena since 1948, first on Michigan Avenue
and then at the Colorado Boulevard location on the corner of Craig
Avenue.
St. Gregory has a core membership of several hundred worshippers, but
annual celebrations attract visitors from as far away as San Bernardino
and Fresno, swelling attendance to between 1,500 and 2,000 people.