BRUNSWICK — Three years after fundraising began, the $4.7 million St. John’s Community Center is nearly complete.

All Saints Parish plans to celebrate with a 5:30 p.m. open house Feb. 6. A blessing and dedication of the 15,000-square-foot facility will be held Sunday, March 3.

The center sits across the parking lot from St. John the Baptist Church, 39 Pleasant St., and adjacent to St. John’s Catholic School. Because it is substantially complete, the school that opened in 1882 hosted its first-ever home basketball game on the campus Jan. 16.

The girls’ basketball team did its part, winning the game before a packed crowd. And the center was fully showcased for the first time, for basketball fans and community members alike.

Along with being used by the parish and school, the center – built by Ouellet Construction of Brunswick – will be rented to area organizations.

Construction began in October 2017. Landscaping, outfitting and furnishings for specific areas are all that remain of the project, campaign Chairman Jim Baskerville said Jan. 24.

The parish, which has raised $4.1 million of its goal, used a construction loan to fund construction as needed, Baskerville said. Fundraising is expected to soon total $4.25 million, thanks to a $100,000 donation expected after the parish raises another $30,000.

“The demographics of the Mid-Coast pointed to a challenge for us, to raise more than $4 million,” he said. “Of course, now history and the results speak for themselves, and we have been highly successful.”

Expressing his gratitude for the many donations received during the “Founded on Faith, Building the Future” campaign, Baskerville said, “the belief factor has grown as the construction came to life. Seeing is believing.”

Receptions of the building were “inspiring to people,” he added. “Word spread, and donations grew.”

The center’s open space can be used as a gym, cafeteria and auditorium. The facility also features the Bishop Sheen Chapel; a stage; a kitchen, and music, meeting and locker rooms.

The building’s new sidewalk is composed of engraved pavers that people and groups have purchased to honor teachers, priests, family members, graduating classes, and deceased family and friends.

Bishop Robert Deeley of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland on March 3 will celebrate an 11 a.m. mass at the church before crossing the parking lot to bless and dedicate the center at 12:30 p.m.

Those still interested in contributing to the fundraising campaign can log onto allsaintsmaine.com, send a check (memo line “Campaign”) to All Saints Parish, 132 McKeen St., Brunswick, ME 04011; or reach Charleen Foley, the parish’s business coordinator, at 725-2624 ext. 112 or charleen.foley@portlanddiocese.org.

Alex Lear can be reached at 780-9085 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

An open house at the new St. John’s Community Center in Brunswick will be held Wednesday, Feb. 6, followed by a blessing and dedication of the 15,000-square-foot facility Sunday, March 3.

Bishop Robert Deeley, right, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland chats recently outside the St. John’s Community Center in Brunswick with Mike Ouellet, left, president of Ouellet Construction and Jim Baskerville, chairman of the fundraising campaign for the center.