Contacted in March 2000 by a committee of parishioners from Our Lady of Lourdes Vietnamese Catholic Church in Houston, landscape designer Rod Russell-Ides and his partner Isabella commenced what they describe as a 2¼-year artistic and spiritual odyssey. They sought to design and build the parish a contemplative and sacred space modeled after the Lourdes Grotto, a cave-like structure in France revered by religious pilgrims worldwide.

Setting aside doubts that the Dallas-based firm, The Gardens of Rod Russell-Ides, was not large enough to handle their new parish home, the church's committee members invited Rod and Isabella — as well as two prominent U.S. firms specializing in faux-stone construction — to submit designs. Five months later, in April 2001, the Russell-Ides were awarded the contract for the job. In May, they embarked on their own pilgrimage to France to do research for the project.

For three days, the Russell-Ides studied the Grotto, taking more than 300 photographs of its face in morning, afternoon and evening light. Their endeavors helped in diagraming the formation to scale and refining their designs for finish work.

From June to November, the Russell-Ides worked on a scale model of the project to present to the committee. The week before Thanksgiving, it was unveiled before parish committee members. As planned, the job was to comprise two phases: preparation and actual construction of the site, followed by landscaping of the grounds.

Since groundbreaking, work on the project progressed smoothly, and the Russell-Ides were able to complete their work more than four weeks ahead of schedule. A dedication ceremony attended by 1,500 members and other area Catholics was held in mid-March.

OUR LADY OF LOURDES

AT-A-GLANCE

GROTTO AND PLAZA

• Grotto and Plaza cover more than an acre of land

• Plaza: 15 ft. from grade

• Grotto height: 60 ft.

• Total concrete consumption — 850 yd.

• Total rebar used in foundation — 40 tons

GROTTO TEAM MEMBERS

Designer and General
Contractor
Rod and Isabella Russell-Ides
The Gardens of Russell-Ides
Dallas, Texas

Engineer
Mark Peterman
Fuess & Partners, Inc.
Dallas, Texas

Project Consultant, Precaster
Roger Emory
Creative Rock & Water
Fillmore, California

Ready Mixed Supplier (substructure)
American Horizon Concrete Houston, Texas

Cement Finisher
TDK Construction