Renderings of ‘The Thomas’ proposed at 447 S. Old Litchfield Road by Brian O’Connor of Tri West Realty.
By Madeline Ackley Salazar | YourValley
Plans to repurpose a church on the southeast corner of Old Litchfield Road and N. Villa Nueva Drive has become a topic of intense debate among some Litchfield residents for reasons of perhaps varying validity.
The project that has managed to cause such a stir in The Park is being called ‘The Thomas’ and seeks to adaptively reuse — though retain the existing structures — at 447 Old Litchfield Road.
The building is currently owned by Vástago Epicentro Phoenix, a church serving non-denominational, primarily Spanish-speaking Christians–but if applicant Brian O’Connor’s request to rezone the church from public facility to neighborhood commercial is successful, that space can be used for things like office space, a cafe and boutique retail.
Since the proposal was announced in May ahead of a mandatory neighborhood meeting, city leaders were flooded with messages–some in support of the project–but many others condemning the supposed loss of one of the four churches in Litchfield Park.
But applicant Brian O’Connor is adamant that the church, as well as all parish buildings on the property, will remain standing, and has even negotiated for the current congregation to retain use of the church for the next five years.
