Church moves to Waukegan

St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church is ready to formally open the doors to its new house of worship near Gurnee's south border about two years after ground was broken.

His Eminence Metropolitan Iakovos will preside over the official door-opening ceremony at 10 a.m. Sunday. The new church is at 1400 N. O'Plaine Road, just south of Route 120 in Waukegan.

Iakovos was present for the ground-breaking ceremony that occurred in a downpour on April 30, 2006. The late state Sen. Adeline Geo-Karis of Zion, who was a longtime St. Demetrios member, was among the local dignitaries who attended the event.

St. Demetrios' new sanctuary is roughly 9,000 square feet with seating for nearly 500 worshipers. Fellowship Hall adjacent to the sanctuary will provide 5,000 square feet for programs and ministries.

Drivers traversing O'Plaine Road or the nearby the Tri-State Tollway will notice the gold Byzantine dome and cross that rises 75 feet. Active St. Demetrios member Koula Kanne said the dome never fails to impress her.

"When you walk in and you look at the dome, you're going to feel like you're looking at heaven," Kanne said.

St. Demetrios was established in Waukegan in 1929. Church officials said the new structure was approved for the O'Plaine Road site because of a geographic shift in Lake County's growth toward the west and north.

Kanne said St. Demetrios sold its older building in Waukegan to another church. She said St. Demetrios' popular food festival will return to the O'Plaine Road property most likely in August.

Officials said a Greek Orthodox church in Niles was the most recent to host a door-opening ceremony in the Chicago area in 1988.