New hall at Corpus Christi

Five years ago, under the direction of Father Bob Morris, pastor at Corpus Christi Catholic Church on Beach Drive in Destin, plans were put in motion to build a new Social Hall at the church.

“We are very proud of the facility,” Mimi Sisson, parishioner and member of the building committee, told The Log. “It is a true social hall with a commercial kitchen, a serving area, a small room that holds about 30 to 60 people depending on configuration, and the large hall which would accommodate about 200 people. We have two large TV's and, of course, the restrooms.” Andrea Plunk of Studio-A-Architecture designed the new hall and building began in November 2011.

“The Social Hall was built using IC, Insulated Concrete Forms, and insulated with Icenine Insulation to keep the building cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter without the use of excess energy,” Sisson said. “It is totally a ‘Green’ building. We needed a place to hold social activities for the parish and did not want the usual ‘gym’ style building. Our old social hall would only hold about 50 people in a meeting setting.”

Members of the building committee are Linda and Billy Hromadko, Mimi and Dave Sisson, Jen and Fred Dwight, Dori Hromadko, George and Joan Giganti, Tom Weidenhamer and John Rizzo.

“We all worked for about three years to get all our plans in place to get the best building that our budget would allow,” Sisson said. “I think we were successful.”

An open house will be held in the near future for the parishioners, and Bishop Gregory will be invited. The Church hopes to hold many events there in addition to social activities, including classes and teen activities, as well as making it available for rent to the community.