Farrell plaza sold to church next door for social hall
May 23—FARRELL — Our Lady of Fatima Church purchased the business plaza at Wallis Avenue and Roemer Boulevard, for which the city of Farrell had such high hopes, to serve as a social hall.
The plaza, which the city built with a state grant of $500,000, was sold to the church for $140,000.
"Their loss is our future here,. and it's got so much potential," said Pam Rabold, parish council president.
Rabold said Our Lady of Fatima Church's parish is growing, and they needed the space for a social hall.
"I'm very proud of what our parish has been able to do," Rabold said. "We would like to be part of the uplifting part of Farrell."
The front of the 3,000-square-foot building faces the 500 block of Roemer Boulevard with an entrance on Wallis Avenue, across from the church, on its west side.
The city broke ground on the building July 15, 2020, and the exterior was completed that December. It has been standing empty ever since.
Rabold said the building is essentially a warehouse inside and needs a lot of work.
Farrell City Manager Ben Prescott said the city just did not have the money to finish the building. He said attracting a business would require investing $300,000 to $500,000 in a property that was supposed to be a plaza with hopes of private businesses, like a grocery store and hair salon, taking up residence.
"There weren't city reserves deep enough to complete that work," Prescott said. "So council felt it was in the city's best interest to sell the plaza, that would finish the work and expand the structure."
The site, across from the municipal building and police and fire departments, was decades ago the site of the original Magnotto family grocery store and a gas station.
The thought of purchasing the plaza started a year ago as a discussion between Rabold and Fatima's pastor, Father Matthew Ruyechan.
"About a year ago, Father Matt just finished breakfast downstairs in the social hall and seniors can't make the stairs. He had asked what we thought about the building next door," Rabold said. "Two minds got together, and we hatched a plan. We needed a place for social gatherings."
The church plans to build a 1,000-square-foot addition to the building, to be completed by the winter, so they can begin work inside. The interior needs electric and plumbing, heating and air conditioning, a ceiling and handicapped restrooms. They will also add a commercial kitchen.
"We missed having our cavatelli ladies next door," Rabold said. The parish is known for its voluteers who make the pasta and sell it commercially.
Rabold said the building should be completed in a year.
Fatima parish made the offer on the building, and estimated finishing the building will cost more than $400,000.
"It started out as just a thought and a need," Rabold said. "We needed a first-floor handicapped (accessible) building. We had the school, and it's no longer."
That school property in the 1200 block of Union Street, which is six acres, is for sale.
"Had we not been able to get the building next door, we would have built something there," Rabold said.
Rabold said the parish was able to afford the purchase thanks to the frugal spending of its previous Pastor, the late Rev. Donald T. Berdis, and because of investments made by another previous pastor, Msgr. Geno Monti.
"Thanks to our past, we have a future," Rabold said. "The church itself has been standing for 114 years. Everything in it is original, and we've been able to maintain the building. Now we'll start our future."
Follow Melissa Klaric on twitter @HeraldKlaric or email her at mklaric@sharonherald.com
Follow Melissa Klaric on twitter @HeraldKlaric or email her at mklaric@sharonherald.com
