As Westbrook Catholics wait for a final decision from the bishop on moving to St. Hyacinth’s, the city is hoping changes at Westbrook’s Catholic churches will lead to more parking for the city and won’t lead to the loss of a city park.

The city is hoping to ease its parking crunch by using the St. Hyacinth’s church parking lot for weekday parking.

The Portland Roman Catholic Diocese has held preliminary talks with the city regarding the parking lot at St. Hyacinth’s. City Administrator Jerre Bryant said the city is looking to reach an agreement with the church that would help to ease some of the parking problems near Brown Street.

Parking is tight in that neighborhood, especially in the vicinity of the Dana Warp Mill. The extra spaces in the church lot would be used as daytime parking for workers as well as possibly being used as overnight off-street parking for residents during snowstorms, said Bryant. St. Hyacinth’s is a good choice because parking is especially tight in that area, said Bryant, and the church uses the lot primarily on weekends, when the spaces aren’t needed by the city.

Sue Bernard, communications director for the diocese, confirmed the diocese had held some preliminary talks with the city about parking, but she said no agreement had been reached.

Negotiations on the parking spaces had been on hold while Westbrook Catholics decided at which of the city’s three churches they would worship. Now that the parish has chosen to move to St. Hyacinth’s, Bryant said he expects the talks would continue.

The city would pay the church for the use of the spaces and that money would be recouped through money received from lease fees for the spaces, Bryant said. He said this would mean the city would secure extra parking at virtually no cost to the taxpayers.

If the city and the church were able to reach an agreement, Bryant said it would be a win-win proposition for both sides. He said the city would benefit from having extra parking available for residents and workers. The church would benefit because it would receive money for a parking lot that sits empty most of the week.

While the spaces would help to ease the tight parking situation in the neighborhood, they could also be used to help the city fulfill an agreement it made with a local developer.

In June, the city entered into an agreement with the owner of the One Riverfront Plaza office building, giving the owner the right to lease up to 90 parking spaces from the city within a 1,000-square-foot radius of the building. Bryant said the St. Hyacinth’s spaces might be used as part of that agreement, though he would not commit to that.

“I’m not saying they are” going to be used as part of that agreement, he said. “But they certainly could be.”

While the city and the church are talking about the possible use of the St. Hyacinth’s parking lot, the parish still needs to decide what to do with Westbrook’s other two churches.

Bernard said plans call for only the St. Mary’s and St. Edmund’s properties to be sold. The diocese would then use that money to remodel St. Hyacinth’s so it could accommodate the new combined parish of St. Anthony’s.

The diocese has plans to sell only St. Edmund’s and St. Mary’s, said Bernard. Although some church members have said the diocese is considering selling the St. Hyacinth’s school, convent and an adjacent park and ball field, Bernard said the diocese has not yet made a final decision on whether it would sell any properties in addition to the other two Westbrook Catholic churches.

“Right now everything stays intact at St. Hyacinth’s,” she said. Selling other St. Hyacinth’s properties “could be something we do in the future. But that’s not something we’re talking about right now.”

As the church considers its options, the city is watching and hoping the diocese holds onto the park land, which is used for a variety of recreational programs.

Bryant said the city has an arrangement with the diocese where the city has free use of the fields, and in exchange the city does all the maintenance, which is primarily mowing the grass. Bryant said the city does not have any recreational programs running at the park this fall, but expects to resume running programs there in the spring.

Bryant said he hopes the diocese elects to keep the land as a park becuase it is a good recreational space for residents. “It is very important to us,” he said.

The decision to sell any church property rests with Bishop Richard Joseph Malone. Bernard said the bishop has not yet given his approval for any changes to the Westbrook churches. The bishop’s office is waiting for a formal request to move parish operations to St. Hyacinth’s from St. Anthony’s Pastor Rev. Reggie Brissette.

Brissette has been out of the country on vacation and unavailable for comment. Bernard said once the bishop’s office receives the request from Brissette, she expects the bishop will quickly sign off on it and then the diocese will begin marketing St. Mary’s and St. Edmund’s and completing plans to remodel St. Hyacinth’s. There is no timetable on when the diocese hopes to sell the two properties, but Bernard said the diocese hopes to move quickly on the sale to avoid having to heat and maintain the two unused buildings this winter.

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