St. Mary's parishioners gather in five meetings to discuss what features they want in the rebuilt church. Demolition begins Feb. 27. St. Mary's chooses architectural firm Vintage Archonics of Fort Wayne to design its new church. It features a 275-seat sanctuary, parish hall, offices and operating space for the St. Mary's Soup Kitchen.
Parishioners meet to trim back the design.
O'Connor announces the revised church design. Heavy rains saturate the soil, delaying construction. Workers must scrape off the top 18 inches of dirt so the soil layer underneath can dry. St. Mary's scraps plans to begin holding Mass in the unfinished church's parish hall because liability insurance premiums would be too costly. Sanctuary pews, originally due in mid-August, arrive for installation in the nearly completed building.