New Catholic church under construction north of Silverthorne holds open house Sunday

This Sunday, Our Lady of Peace Church opens its brand-new doors in Silverthorne to those interested in taking a look inside.

The church, under construction at the north end of Silverthorne, was recently enclosed with the completion of the roof.

Now, church officials want to take the opportunity to showcase the new building. The church is moving from its current location in Dillon Valley to its new spot below the Gore Range in Silverthorne.

From 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, the church and rectory buildings will be open for public to walk-through. Officials expect construction to be completed (they're currently working on the interior) by late summer.

The church is also showcasing its commitment to employing local skilled labor, contractors and purchasing building materials from within the county.

According to Deacon Chuck Lamar, an extensive process of pre-qualifying and prioritizing local subcontractors resulting in the ability to hire two-thirds of the subcontractors in Summit County, and spend 77 percent of the dollars (more than $3 million) with the local businesses.

“Since 1881, we have been part of Summit County and are committed to local people here,” Lamar said. “We have $4 to $5 million to spend, and we'd really like to support our local community with people looking for work. ... If they were qualified and competitive in price, we opted to hire them as we could.”

To his knowledge, the only workers who came from outside of Summit County were those whose skills couldn't be found within Summit's borders.

Our Lady of Peace is an extension of Breckenridge's St. Mary Catholic parish, founded in 1881. The original church still sits at 109 S. French Street, which received an addition in 1985 to accommodate continuing growth. In December, a major interior renovation was finished, adding more seating and social space at the site.

As the community grew, a new mission, called Infant of Prague, was established in 1958 and met in old Dillon until the town was flooded for the new reservoir. In 1975, Our Lady of Peace church was constructed on its current site in Dillon Valley. With little room to expand, church officials sought a new site and landed on the Silverthorne property.

The construction budget for the project exceeds $4 million, which is being funded by pledges and donations from the local Catholic community (full and part time residents) as well as visiting families.

Original post:
New Catholic church under construction north of Silverthorne holds open house Sunday