There was nothing Mayrose Gregorios could do to change her husband’s mind. When Deo Gregorios saw the towering Cathedral of Transfiguration as he drove along Highway 404 and Major Mackenzie in Markham, he was transfixed.

“My husband was fixated on the cathedral,” said Gregorios, who moved into a home near the cathedral in 2009. “He was in awe. He wanted a piece of property in the area and to join the congregation,” she said.

At the time, a 1,200-home subdivision called Cathedraltown was taking shape in the shadow of the onion-domed cathedral. The subdivision was marketed as a European-inspired community in humdrum suburbia. In addition to homes, artist renderings depicted a large lake in which “the cathedral’s domes would reflect,” belvederes, and a pedestrian-oriented open-air “piazza” reminiscent of an Italian city.

Media heralded the arrival of this unique self-contained community in a region known for cookie-cutter homes and urban sprawl.

So the Gregorioses bought in. But years later, Gregorios says the vision her family were sold has yet to be fulfilled.

The promised lake is nothing more than an overgrown storm-water pond. The piazza is unfinished and many of the storefronts are still vacant. But perhaps most disappointing is that the cathedral, the heart of the community, has been closed to the public for nearly a decade. The last service took place in 2006.

“It’s not just a part of our community, it’s the core of our community,” said Gregorios, talking about the 20-metre-high cathedral she can see every time she leaves her home.

“And without it, our community is incomplete,” she said.

After years of waiting for promised amenities to be built, frustrated residents say they have little faith that developer Helen-Roman Barber, head of King David Inc., will deliver on the vision she promised. And they’re asking: Who is responsible for making sure she does?

So far, there’s no clear answer.

“They were not promises; they were conceptual plans and details. They were always subject to change,” said local Councillor Alan Ho of the details that beguiled the Gregorioses and others. He believes the developer has gone “above and beyond what is required.”

Residents admit the convincing sales pitch was bolstered by the presence of the cathedral.

The project was started by mining magnate Stephen B. Roman in 1984, in honour of Slovaks who faced religious oppression during the Soviet era. Its cornerstone was consecrated by Pope John Paul II, and no cost was spared.

The church was designed by Donald Buttress, an English architect best known for a restoration of Westminster Abbey. The exterior has a granite finish and 14-storey bell towers. The cupolas that sit atop the cathedral are plated in 22-karat gold.

Roman suddenly died four years after he started the project in 1988, leaving his daughter and her Slovak Greek Catholic Church Foundation, a charity that owns the cathedral, to finish the work. It remains unfinished.

A final blow came in 2006, when a dispute between Roman-Barber and the Eparchy for Catholic Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite in Canada erupted over the title to the land. The bishop at the time banned priests from saying mass at the cathedral.

Current Bishop John Pazak, who represents all Slovak Catholics in Canada, did not respond to requests for comment.

Tammy Armes, head of the local ratepayers’ association, says residents were up in arms last year when they found out King David Inc. had applied to increase the density on a condo development proposed to be directly adjacent to the cathedral.

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The residents lobbied Markham councillors, adamant that the city should deny the application unless the developer completed the amenities promised a decade ago. They gave the city a list of over 50 grievances.

The developer says the amenities will be finished when the condos are built.

But instead of making a decision on the developer’s application, the city delayed the vote, forcing King David Inc. to take the matter to the Ontario Municipal Board. The residents plan to participate at the OMB hearings scheduled for March.

In the meantime, the city is left to deal with the aftermath of broken promises. The city admits that at one time, the developer discussed a preliminary concept for a lake with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and city staff, but never followed through with the grandiose plans.

The TRCA says it has been labeled a “barrier to the project” by the developer. But it says King David Inc. would have known years ago that a lake was not feasible on the property.

The developer declined to attend a recent meeting with the city, residents and TRCA until it promises to “proceed on the basis of the design vision our client proposes,” the lawyer for King David Inc. told the city.

But the TRCA says any plan would need to be assessed.

Carolyn Woodlands, director of planning and development for the TRCA says any application for a lake would require approvals from the federal and provincial levels and extensive studies. The city will try to encourage residents to settle for an enhanced and landscaped stormwater pond, said Ho.

The cathedral’s future is also uncertain.

In a city document, King David Inc. says the cathedral will open “late 2015.” But at the church site, there is little to indicate that a congregation will return soon. The steps are crumbling, ominous no-trespassing signs blow in the wind, and security cameras guard the premises.

In an email, Roman-Barber said work continues on the interior mosaic, while the exterior mosaic has been totally re-done, and the concert organ has been rebuilt and installed.

As for when residents could expect to see the church open again, she’s ambiguous: “When the extensive interior scaffolding is disassembled from the centre of the Cathedral, the Cathedral will be re-opened to the public.”

But Armes says the residents need a concrete timeline on both the lake and the cathedral issue. “There is a great mistrust. We don’t know what to believe anymore.”

Gregorios says she can’t wait for the day she hears the cathedral bells ring again. “A few years ago, in the middle of the day, we heard the bells ringing. Every resident had goosebumps. It was a joyous feeling. You literally felt the community was alive,” said Gregorios.

“My husband and I went around and around the building. But the doors were locked. And then we got mad. Don’t mislead us. Don’t get our hopes up,” she said.

She now believes the bells were being rung to prevent them from rusting.

“I really think if the cathedral was re-opened, people would be happy. That would be enough,” she said. “We would have a community again.”

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