2008 Chapel Addition
In 2008, O.L.V. announced plans to open a new Chapel Centre named after the school's founder, the Reverend Doctor Phillip "Wally" Frankenmuth Jr. "Father Wally" as he was called started O.L.V. in 1905, running weekly worship services and Bible Studies out of the basement of his brother's butcher shop on East Front St. in Toronto. The Chapel Centre broke ground on April 1, 2008 and is expected to be completed by the Summer of 2010. The original chapel, which was part of the new 2004 school building, will then be converted into an auditorium that will be used for stage plays, school assemblies and amateur boxing matches sponsored by the school's own gym.
Chapel Update: Summer 2009: The building structure is complete, and contractors are now working on the interior of the chapel. The project is ahead of schedule at this time.
Chapel Update: October 2009: The interior of the chapel is now wired for electricity. Money is currently being raised by the Building Committee to hire an artist to complete a mural of O.L.V.'s school children in the entryway. A chili cook-off and talent show are in the works for around Christmas.
Chapel Update: December 2009: The chili cook-off and talent show was quite the success, raising the needed funds to hire local artist Fredrick A. Mainsfeld to design and paint a mural of the O.L.V. school children in the entryway of the chapel. At its current rate of construction, the chapel should be completed in time for the Easter Holiday in early April.
Chapel Update: February 2010: Fredrick A. Mainsfeld has begun working on his mural entitled "Who's down with O.L.V? Yea you know me!" featuring the school children of O.L.V. Other work on the chapel is also near-completion, meaning the Easter Holiday should be celebrated in this new space this April.
Chapel Update: Winter 2011: The building is complete and was opened on December 21, 2010, which would have been Father Wally's birthday. The chapel opening was delayed by almost three months due to a work stoppage. Union carpenters refused to continue working on the interior after it was discovered that a pay raise that was negotiated on their part was actually to be paid out in Malaysian riggits instead of Canadian dollars. Workers agreed to receive their raises in the form of Japanese Yen, and thus immediately began work again. Christmas Mass was celebrated in the chapel at 11pm on December 24. More than 200 attended.
Chapel Update: January 2011: The chapel celebrated its first baptism in mid-January. During the design phase of the project, the baptismal font was the subject of a number of heated discussions. Many church leaders felt that a traditional font, with a smaller footprint would be ideal. Others felt that a "submersion" font in which the person being baptised is in the font with the priest would be more ideal. Those supporters felt strongly that baptising as Jesus was baptised in the River Jordan by John the Baptist is symbolically more important. Ultimately, the River Jordan side won out, and the main aisle of the church was built as a three-foot deep channel (with a retractable cover), not unlike a lazy river at a water park. Parishioners being baptised enter the channel at the back of the church and wade through the holy water to the front of the chapel, where they're met by the priest and "dunked" in a deeper pool alongside the altar.
Chapel Update: Summer 2011: The Summer of 2011 proved to be a sweltering one in Ontario, and O.L.V capitalized by opening up the church during non-mass times for parishioners and community members to use the baptismal channel for recreation and to cool down. The pastoral council of the church debated the merits at their June meeting, and ultimately opened up the church beginning just in time for Canada Day (July 1). The church was generally open Monday after morning mass through Saturday prior to evening mass, save for morning mass each day. The church did ask for a free-will donation for use of the water attraction, and did charge $3 for tubes. The two month water attraction in Toronto paid off wonderfully for O.L.V. as the donations and tube rental fees paid the note still held on the installation of the baptismal font and allowed the parish to make a large financial contribution to its sister parish, St. Mary's in Arkadelphia, AK, USA. The parish also welcomed 23 new families who became familiar with O.L.V. while enjoying the new summer activity.
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