By Joan Garvin

St. William Parish won’t have to postpone its annual array of festivities any longer. The Los Altos parish gathered Sunday to dedicate their Family Life Center at 611 S. El Monte Ave.

The parish, without a large gathering space since they sold the school property on Rosita Avenue to the city of Los Altos in 1996, has had to suspend traditional parish events such as the rummage sale, Oktoberfest, crab dinners and St. Patrick’s Day parties until the center was completed.

“I am happy for the people (of this parish) who have waited so long,” Rev. Michael Burns said.

The state-of-the-art 9,000-square-foot center was built by Blach Construction Co. under the direction of Steve Dunne.

Co-project manager Norb Kordsmeier said, “It’s like the culmination of a dream — (I feel) great happiness and relief.” After the parish school closed, parishioners agreed their most important need was a common meeting place, and thus began the vision. “(This) is a legacy from the people of the past (who) allowed us to build such a structure,” Kordsmeier said.

Ruth Gianotti placed the dedication plaque on behalf of her husband, John, who died unexpectedly before seeing the project completed. According to Burns, John was a driving force behind the building. Unanimously elected head of the finance committee, he was instrumental in obtaining the architect, Richard Zlatunich.

The center is the last major project undertaken by Zlatunich before retirement. He entrusted the execution of his design to Paul Nielsen of Nielson Consulting, who began working with Zlatunich as a high school apprentice.

The new center is linked to the existing church and rectory building with a courtyard surrounded by textured stone and brick. The walkways are paved with stones dedicated in memory of those who built the parish community.

The building can be opened up for large gatherings or partitioned with folding dividers into six individual rooms, named for one of the pastors: Rev. Glenn A. Kelley, 1959; Rev. William C. McGuire, 1971; Rev. Paul E. Duggan, 1978; Rev. Alexander C. Larkin, 1981; Rev. Matthew P. Sullivan, 1985; and Rev. Michael J. Burns, 1992.

Co-project manager Reed Jenney, with a background in computer training, commented on the remaining task.

“Trepidation,” he said. “What’s ahead? The next step would be to train human resources to run the center.”