Sacred Heart Catholic Church in South Phoenix, which has been closed and boarded up for 36 years, will reopen this year, the Phoenix Diocese said.

“Sacred Heart in South Phoenix was open for Christmas and will hopefully be permanently reopened this year,” the Diocese of Phoenix said on Facebook.

The church was closed when the adjoining neighborhood was bulldozed for an expansion of the Sky Harbor Airport, ABC 15 reported. But support for the church has persisted over the decades.

Sacred Heart Catholic Church in South Phoenix will reopen in 2022. | Facebook/SacredHeartPHX

On Christmas Eve, volunteers cleaned windows and washed the floor for a late afternoon Mass, according to ABC 15.

"Over the years, they've been very clear this church is part of their history and so I want them to own it and enjoy it," said Father Paul Sullivan, pastor of Sacred Heart.

He said he hopes the renovations will be complete this year to reopen the church, which the city once wanted to demolish.

"This building is far deeper, far more important than just a building," Sullivan said. "This touches people's hearts ... this is where they bring their needs to their God."

During the 1930s and 1940s, residents of the Golden Gate barrio held mass in their homes, an old store and in a vacant lot with benches, Sacred Heart said on its website.

"Father Albert Braun, O.F.M., a hero who served as a chaplain during both world wars, came to the area in the 1940s and Sacred Heart  was established as a mission," the church said.

The church was dedicated on Oct. 14, 1956. It has been is painted and cleaned, and religious art has been put back inside, Fox 10 reported.

 "Brings me to tears, man,"  said Jimmy Benavidez, who grew up going to the church told the station. "My Mom and Dad are just looking down, smiling. I'm sure this is a special  place."