Across the country, many historic churches are being closed and abandoned or used for new purposes. One of the oldest churches in downtown Mobile was closed and it was the intent of the Diocese to conserve all the traditional elements of the old church: the stained-glass windows, the marble altars, the pews, the statuary, the light fixtures and the statues. A sister Jesuit parish was planning a new church and felt inspired to design their new facility using the conserved and restored elements from the old church. Building design inspiration was also taken from the character of the English Gothic style church.

The new traditionally inspired church resulted from a master plan of the existing campus that included a 1960s contemporary church, a K-8 school, a small parish hall, youth center and administrative offices. Buildings were assessed and it was proposed to remove two classroom wings for the new church site. This allowed the old church to remain in use during constructed and be converted to a large parish hall in the next phase.