St. Monica Closes One Entrance Amid Construction

has yet to formally start the construction phase of its master site plan, but preliminary work is now under way—and parking is already being affected.

St. Monica is currently relocating a power transformer and line so that electricity will continue to flow through the church, rectory and one of its principal centers during construction. As a result, the church entrance on California Ave. is being temporarily closed.

Instead, parishioners are being asked to enter the parish grounds via either the Lincoln Blvd. or Washington Ave. entrance. (See the attached PDF for more detailed information.)

For those with a small or midsized car, the parish is suggesting that they park at 1140 Seventh St., a half-block from the church. The lot can be entered through the alley between Sixth and Seventh, and accessed through Wilshire Blvd.

On Sundays, the parish will continue leasing the Crown Parking Lot at 1211 Seventh St., south of Wilshire. The entrance is on Seventh. For that day's 5:30 p.m. Mass, is allowing St. Monica parishioners to park at its lot, located at the corner of Lincoln and Washington. The entrance is on Lincoln.

St. Monica's main campus parking lot holds 175 vehicles, while its smaller one can contain up to 26.

Parking will continue to be affected into July. In order to facilitate traffic flow, parishioners were alerted to the parking news via an e-mail news update on Tuesday. Also, there is a post with parking instructions on the church's Web site.

Late last year, St. Monica Schools President Thom Gasper told Santa Monica Patch that the parish had hoped construction would be finished within a half-year.

With an estimated $27 million budget for Phase One alone, the St. Monica construction project is considered to be one of the largest-ever parish undertakings of its kind.

Editor's note: The author of this article is a parishioner of St. Monica.