NORWALK—St. Matthew Church will celebrate a Dedication Mass for the Msgr. Walter C. Orlowski Recreation Wellness Center on Sunday, December 12 at 12 noon. Following Mass, there will be a ribbon-cutting, blessing, reception and open house. Bishop Frank J. Caggiano will celebrate the Mass and blessing, and will be joined by Norwalk Mayor Harry W. Rilling and State Senator Bob Duff.
The Center is named in honor of St. Matthew Church’s late pastor, Msgr. Walter C. Orlowski, who began the project in 2018, and whose vision was to create an intergenerational gathering place for wellness in body, mind and spirit.
“While the Rec Center building is nearly finished, it is just the beginning of the many, many lives it will touch,” wrote Father Jeff Couture, current pastor of St. Matthew’s. “Every time I walked in here, I imagined the echo of kids’ laughter, the bouncing of a ball, the swooshing of net, and how wonderful it will be to have kids filling this Rec Center.”
The 18,000 square-foot two-story Recreation Center houses a court/fieldhouse, indoor walking/running track, universal workout room, tumble room for toddlers and Newman Lounge, designed by the architectural firm, Doyle & Coffin Architecture and developed by Lecher Development.
“This building began as Msgr.’s dream, but it has become ours,” Father Couture wrote. “You and I have adopted it as our own dream, and it will be all of our legacy as a parish.”
(For more information, visit: www.stmatthewnorwalk.org/recreation-center)
