Catholic church to break ground

The old will soon be new again when an Augusta Catholic congregation migrates to Columbia County.

St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church will hold a ground-breaking ceremony at 2:30 p.m. today at the site of its future home at 4921 Columbia Road.

It will be the first Catholic church in the county.

"This has been a vision of the Most Rev. J. Kevin Boland, 13th bishop of the Diocese of Savannah, for the past several years: to establish a Catholic presence in Columbia County," said the Rev. Thomas J. Peyton, St. Teresa's pastor. "It was a challenge given to St. Teresa of Avila parish and, after much discussion, long range planning and many meetings, we chose to move."

The church, currently at 117 Pleasant Home Road, Augusta, divided the construction project into three phases. The first phase is the construction of an 18,400-square-foot Parish Religion Education Building and a 28,500-square-foot Parish Life Center with administrative offices, costing $5.5 million.

The second phase will be the church, and the third phase is a family life center on the 44.5-acre Columbia Road property.

The church plans to hold services in the Parish Life Center until the second phase of the project is complete, which could be years away, St. Teresa's parochial assistant Mary Chapin said.

Phase-one construction is expected to be complete in 14 months, Chapin said.

The church has a 4,144-member congregation.