SEASIDE – After 22 years of controversy, the walls of Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church are coming down.

Demolition of the 97-year-old church began Monday, and through the week, the building was slowly gobbled up. On Wednesday morning, workers removed the cross on the steeple, and the steeple itself was scheduled for demolition this morning.

Next year, a church twice the size of this one will be in its place, with a sanctuary that will hold more than 400 people, a small chapel, and other spaces – including bathrooms – that the former church didn’t have.

“I have mixed emotions,” said Chris Rose, church council president. “That’s pretty much what’s going on with everybody.

“The people who fought it were tired of the issue, and the people who supported it were tired,” Rose added. “For me, I’ve been doing this for 22 years.”

“It has taken a lot of planning. I’m at the end of the road. I’m tired. The journey is over. This was the hardest part.”

But an opponent of the construction project feels only regret.

“I did all I could to forestall it,” said John Pincetich, of Gearhart. “It’s a sad day for the church.”

The focus of controversy within the congregation for many years was that the church building was deemed “inadequate to accomplish the church’s objectives” in a pastoral plan approved by the Archdiocese of Portland in the mid-1980s. Engineers examined the church’s architectural needs and deficiencies and drew up a master plan.

A church building committee debated whether to renovate or reconstruct for more than a year. Opponents, including Pincetich, formed their own committee. Renovation, they said, would clear up most of the deficiencies and still maintain the church’s historic roots.

Although, the original cost to demolish the church and build a new one was estimated at $1.5 million 10 years ago, building plans and fundraising efforts came to a halt when the federal courts froze the money in 2004. The Archdiocese of Portland had declared bankruptcy after settling molestation lawsuits involving the late Rev. Maurice Grammond, who served at the church from 1966 to 1985.

After the bankruptcy was resolved, the church resumed its fundraising. But in the meantime, the construction cost had jumped to $2.4 million, and by last January, the congregation was $700,000 short of its goal.

Rose credited Father Nicholas Nilema, the church’s priest, for moving ahead despite the obstacles.

“We had four priests before Father Nick who all knew we needed a new church. Father Nick had the courage to say, ‘Let’s do it.'”

To raise the amount still lacking, the church sold a 1,000-square-foot portion of a parking lot on the west side of the church at Columbia Street and Ocean Way for $500,000. The lot is being sold to the company that owns the Ocean Front Motel.

“That has always been our ace up the sleeve,” Rose said. “We reached the point where we didn’t have the momentum for fundraising, and it wasn’t parking that we needed.”

With most of the funding for the new building now assured, fundraising picked up again, Rose said. Although the church needs $200,000 more, “that’s changing real fast,” he said. “As soon as people realized this really was going to happen, we got more donations, even from those who opposed it,” Rose added.

The final Mass in the old church occurred June 29. Afterward, the group of opponents had a meeting.

“They realized it was over,” Rose said. “Their attitude completely changed. It’s like we’re all one happy family. Many made new pledges. It was a pleasant way to end the conflict.”

Following the Mass, Rose, his wife and other members of the congregation dismantled the stained glass windows, the organ and its pipes and the altar; removed the statues and other artifacts; and took the bell out of the church tower. Everything will be used again in the new church. The bell will be set up in its own enclosure at the side of the church and will be rung electronically before masses, funerals and weddings as it always has.

“At 9 p.m. on the Fourth of July, my wife and I finished removing the final pieces. It was anticlimatic to walk out of the doors with all the fireworks going off, and the church was empty,” Rose said.

The following week, hazardous materials workers removed asbestos from the church, and the state Department of Environmental Quality made its final inspection. On Monday, the demolition crew arrived.

Until the new church is completed, masses will be conducted in the parish hall north of the church site. Some members are attending other local Catholic churches in Arch Cape, Hammond and Astoria.

Although it will be twice the size of the old church, the new 8,400-square-foot church will take up the same footprint because it will cover the garden area the old L-shaped church had left vacant. The parking lot will remain the same.

Rose estimates the cost to operate the new church will be reduced by $1,000 a month because of modern electrical and gas installations. It cost between $1,000 and $1,200 a month just to heat the former, uninsulated church, he said.

Plans call for in-floor heating, foam-insulated walls and a tongue-and-groove wooden ceiling. Steel trusses inside will be covered with wood to resemble the wood beams arching over the main aisle in the old church, and lamps from the old church will be used to light the sanctuary. Louvers in the new steeple can be opened in the summer to release heated air and act as a natural air conditioner by drawing in cool marine air.

Unlike the former building, bathrooms will be constructed, as well as a “crying room” for parents with fussy children. A “reconciliation room” will replace the outdated confessional booths, and a baptismal font will be installed to take the place of the “bowl of water” currently being used, Rose said.

Rose, who retired recently from a career as a general contractor, will construct the 816-square-foot chapel, which, he said, he is looking forward to doing as a contribution to the church.

“The stress part of this is over for me,” he said. “It’s just a matter of coordinating the construction and answering questions. Building the chapel will be fun. It just takes time.”