Drawing of St. Dimitrie Romanian Orthodox Church under construction in CT.
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Huge dome tops Orthodox church
Posted on Wed Jan 30 2008
Connecticut Post
EASTON — Parishioners of
St. Dimitrie Romanian Orthodox Church celebrated the placement of the church's huge dome Tuesday morning with hugs of congratulations and shouts of joy.
It was the second attempt by construction crews to place the aluminum dome atop the church under construction off Sport Hill Road. It had been too windy Monday to risk lifting the structure into the air with a crane.
Tuesday was not windy, though, and it only took five minutes to lift the dome into place.
"This is the day the Lord has made for us," said the Rev. Cornel Todeasa, pastor of the church, who stood by in a yellow hard hat watching the crews lift the dome.
Once the dome was in place, workers marked out sections of the metal framework where
holes could be drilled for bolts. Then the dome was set in place a final time and bolted to the frame of the building.
A crowd of parishioners stood by to watch the work. Simona Tudor, the project architect, hugged Todeasa and Andrei Colimitra, the church spokesman.
"We made it," Tudor said to Colimitra.
Colimitra said the church should be complete in May or June.
The construction of orthodox churches is a fairly rare occurrence in the region. The church had been located on Clinton Avenue in Bridgeport for decades. Members bought more than six acres of Gordon's Christmas Tree Farm land seven years ago for $425,000, and construction of the new church began last year.
Almost all of the 325 parishioners of St. Dimitrie immigrated here or trace their roots from Albania, Macedonia, Romania or other parts of the Balkan region. It is an ethnic Romanian parish.
The new sanctuary is estimated to cost $2 million. Easton residents have not opposed the project, as they did the large Black Rock Congregational Church of Fairfield, which ultimately decided not to locate here.
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