The 10,246-square-foot church will utilize traditional materials and design elements, as well as incorporate many things from the old church. It will have a Gothic-style interior with vaulted ceilings, tall glass windows, a main aisle and two side aisles separating multiple rows of wooden pews brought from the original church, and a large gathering space. It will have a seating capacity of 452.

The chiseled stone and dryvit exterior will feature a tall bell tower, multiple large windows and, at the church entrance, an exterior canopy wide enough for two car lanes. Selected stain glass windows from the old church, as well as Stations of the Cross, lights, some statues and other liturgical items will be incorporated into the new church décor.

The new building will also include the parish office, restrooms and meeting space.

The tall red brick Gothic-style St. Thomas Church, built in 1880 and most recently renovated in 1978 has structural problems with its roof and walls.

“The parish has talked about either renovating the church or building a new church for 10 years,” says Father Allen Kemme, St. Thomas pastor.

A parish renovation committee established eight years ago arranged for two engineering studies to be done on the church. The committee also worked with a professional fund-raising firm to conduct a building feasibility study in the parish.

Engineering studies determined the church roof needed to be solidified, and the church walls shorn up, if the church were to reach seismic building code regulations. “Those are pretty expensive repairs,” says Father Kemme. The building feasibility study meanwhile found 68 percent of the parish felt a new church was the way to go, while about 30 percent of the parish said renovation was the way to go.

The survey determined it would cost more to correct St. Thomas problems than it would to build a new church. “The finance committee and I made the final decision after consultation with the bishop, to have the old church torn down and to build a new church,” says Father Kemme.

Hance, Utz & Associates Architects in Mattoon is the architect for the church. General contractor is Swingler Brothers of Effingham. The new church is expected to be completed next spring.

In 2008, the old two-and-a-half story rectory/office house, which stood just west of the church on Jourdan Street, was torn down, and a house on the corner of the next block on the other side of the street was purchased to serve as the rectory.

Another house on the far northwestern corner of the church block was purchased in order to make more room for the new church design.