Windsor-Essex's Greek community now has a place to call its own.
The ribbon was officially cut Friday on the new Hellenic Cultural Centre on Walker Rd. in Windsor. The centre is a multi-purpose facility which includes the new flagship church for the local Greek Orthodox community, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox.
Panos Sechopoulos, president of the Greek Orthodox Community of Windsor, says the centre is the culmination of a long journey.
"This project has been in the works for two and a half years," says Sechopoulos. "The community has struggled for the last nine years in figuring out where and what project to do, but we finally settled on this one. So we're looking forward to making new memories here."
Sechopoulos says the centre is capable of holding events large and small.
"The hall has two rooms with a capacity of around 400 people," says Sechopoulos. "We have a full professional kitchen in the back. We have five Greek classrooms for our Saturday school and our Sunday school that we offer to our Greek kids, and we have a members' lounge as well."
The dedication, attended by Mayor Drew Dilkens and city councillors Rino Bortolin and Ed Sleiman, featured the playing of the Canadian and Greek national anthems, an invocation from the church's priest, Father Evangelos Aravantinos, and the unveiling of a timeline plaque describing the journey of the Greek-Canadian community in Windsor.
The church says over 500 families are attending the community, which was established in 1954. The former cultural centre was located in Tecumseh but was demolished to make room for construction of the Herb Gray Parkway. While the new facility was built, members used the basement of their previous church to hold events.
The church's previous home was on Ellis St. E. and Dufferin Place and it was consecrated in 1975.
Services have been held at the new facility since March of this year.
The cultural centre is open for all kinds of events, with the first, the 100th birthday gala of the Rotary Club of Windsor (1918), taking place Saturday night. The centre is also available for weddings, conferences and other events.
Festival-goers will also be able to celebrate the Greek Village at the centre next month, as part of the annual city-wide Carousel of Nations.
