Sts. Peter and Paul Parish completes renovations

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Additional parking spaces have been added to the lot at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, in addition to renovations to the social hall.

WEST VALLEY – Renovations at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church have updated the parish’s social hall and signage, and added more parking spaces for the accessibility and accommodation of parishioners.

The project began in March of last year.

“We started talking about what was needed and putting together a plan,” said Fr. Francisco Pires, who was the parish pastor until August of this year, when he was transferred to St. Henry Parish and Santa Ana Mission in northern Utah.

When West Valley City authorities didn’t approve the original Sts. Peter and Paul Parish project, months went by as changes were made to meet the city’s specifications.

“By the time the city approved the projects, it was already October, and it was getting too cold to work in the parking lot and in the outside, so we postponed it to the spring,” Fr. Pires said.

In the spring, the coronavirus pandemic broke loose, but that didn’t stop the project from moving forward. The parish had the resources, the contractor was ready and so were the construction workers.

“The work on the social hall started at the end of April, beginning of May, and the parking lot in June,” Fr. Pires said.

Al the funds to complete the project came from the parish offertory.

“People had been very generous throughout the years. We didn’t have to have any special fundraisers,” said Fr. Pires, who was able to put aside a little bit of extra money before he left.

The parishioners’ love for their parish is incredible, he said, and he tried to reflect that.

“I always like to keep the property and the grounds kept up, and the social hall is an extension of our church on Sundays,” he said.

The repainting, new flooring, fortifying the roof to avoid leaks and basically creating a new space was hard to do, but at the same time very rewarding in the end, he said.

 The goal was to create a space parishioners would enjoy, and that would help them participate in the Mass, “and now they have it,” Fr. Pires said. “And the parking lot has always been a problem,” even though people used to park in the public school across the street from the church.

As part of the renovations, some grass and trees on the parish property were removed so that additional parking could be put in, making the space more welcoming and accessible, Fr. Pires said.  

“The parish has been blessed with all their parishioners; it’s now in good shape despite all the challenges throughout the pandemic,” he said.

When Fr. Sebastien Sasa Nganomo arrived at Sts. Peter and Paul in August as the new parish administrator, finding a renovated church made him feel invigorated, he said.