 Father Anthony Karbo stands outside the new dining hall of the Saints Constantine & Helen Holy Theophany Orthodox Church. Westside Pioneer photo
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The 3,220 square-foot, 19-foot-high facility does not have the distinctive domes of the nearby nine-year-old church sanctuary at 2770 N. Chestnut St., but is similar to its 12th century Byzantine style with arches, variegated block walls and corrugated tile roof.
The interior also features the use of arches.
The hall was needed because the roughly 160-member congregation had long since outgrown the basement-area eating space in the church's original, 32-year-old building on the 1.75-acre site.
“We fit here,” said the church's priest, Father Anthony Karbo, over a recent cup of coffee inside the hall. “It looks nice. It's warm in appearance and complements the church building without competing with it.”
The contractor was Fletemeyer Co.
A dining hall is of no small importance to a traditional Orthodox church because people fast before the Sunday service. “By the time we've finished a 2- to 2 ˝-hour service, folks are hungry,” Karbo said.
The capacity is 260 people, although the typical number for the post-service fellowship meal is 100 or so, the priest said.
The hall, which also contains a kitchen, restrooms and some storage space, will be available for neighborhood rental on a sliding scale, Karbo said.
 Inside the hall. The kitchen area is at the left rear and a slightly raised wooden stage is built into the floor at the back. Westside Pioneer photo
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