St. Joseph Church, Athens, has reached another milestone with its construction project. Pete Konenkamp reports the new parish center is nearly complete.

The center opened Dec. 11 with the celebration of a vigil Mass for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The center is on Epps Bridge Parkway, off Georgia Route 316 in Clarke County. It is the second phase of St. Joseph’s new campus. The first step was opening the parish school in September.

At the time of the celebration, only the floor of the new building remained to be installed, Konenkamp said. (The floor should be completed in time for Christmas Eve.)

Father David McGuinness, the pastor, said the new center would be home to basketball, the St. Joseph School’s middle school band, youth groups, religious education, Christ Renews His Parish and other parish organizations.