St. Bonaventure Parish Renovation

Designated funds from Upon This Rock have enabled St. Bonaventure Church in Allegany to undergo a beautiful renovation to glorify God and provide a spiritual home for 550 parish families.  The major project included an interior paint job, new wiring in the nave, new bathrooms, asbestos abatement of flooring material, new wood flooring in the sanctuary, and new pews.  

Fr. James Vacco, O.F.M, pastor, spearheaded the improvements with assistance of parish trustees and members of the parish cabinet.  They were completed in late December 2019. 

 In addition to reusing materials already in the church, the project incorporated materials and artwork from other local sites.  Iron altar rails were re-purposed for the interior side entrance.  A wooden baptismal font originally from the Allegany Presbyterian Church is now the credence table for the bread and wine for Mass.  

Statues of the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph from St. Bonaventure University's Francis Hall have been installed in the church. A former dormitory, Francis Hall was previously the home of the Diocese of Buffalo's Christ the King Seminary.

 New seating now accommodates worshippers with special physical needs. The Stations of the Cross were refreshed and repainted, and with special artistic improvements - the sky now reflects the time of day the episode took place.

"For the last five years parishioners were stating how the church needs to be cleaned up and repainted, "  Fr. Vacco said. "Now refreshed it is readied again to welcome the present and future generations of the faithful and all who come through its doors to communal worship, private prayer, and fellowship."