Expansion 1930
In 1930, after receiving approval for assistance from the parish, the Trustees decided to enlarge the church, as the Church’ s area was no longer sufficient to hold the increasing number of the congregation.
The work started and the parishioners provided financial and moral assistance. A person who could not donate money, donated a few working days according to their experience or knowledge. The businessmen and industrialists donated what they could afford in building materials; tiles, wood, paints and steel. Among this last category was Iskandar Araman, one of the biggest building contractors in Ras Beirut and Jergi Nicolas Rbeiz who became Mukhtar (Mayor) in 1933 and who contributed to the building process with his expertise as a mason.
After the first expansion in 1930, the area of the church was 270 square meter. It is believed that at the time two small altars were added on the right and left of the main altar. A corridor and vaults to the southern and western sides were followed by a passage leading to the bell. To reach the passage, stairs were built from the southern side reaching as well the roof of the rectangular building, known as the Boys’ School.
In the following years, the Trustees were able to equip the church with its needs; chairs, icons and curtains for the iconostas. In the cemetery they built drawers and passages. They also built an annex to the Boys’ School and added rooms to the priest’s house and a place for the sexton to live.
In 1973, the Trustees bought the building alongside the cemetery from the American University. The purchase was completed after extensive negotiations with its Board of Trustees.
In 1979 it was decided to expand the existing church further