Clark County Press, Neillsville, WI

May 9, 2007, Front page

Transcribed by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon.

ST. Mary’s parish building on a proud and blessed past

Members of Neillsville’s St. Mary’s Catholic Church have been on a fundraising campaign for a church renovation project costing nearly $2 million for some months now. But, as the first phase of the drive is concluding, parish members are saying, the vision of their church of the future is constantly inspired by a treasure of blessed memories of the past.

The project includes a 2,700 square-foot addition, kitchen and hall renovation, a refurbished sanctuary with new furnishings, sound system and stained glass windows.

“We call it a restoration-renovation,” Father Woodrow Pace said, adding that the project will improve accessibility to the church, as well.

The history of the 125-year-old church is serving as both guide and inspiration for the project, especially for the future look of its interior.  It’s a look that a devastating fire in 1923 obliterated when it destroyed the entire church building, and the sanctuary along with it.

Some of the statues and furnishings were rescued from the fire and have a place in the church to this day.  But the parish is intent, indeed inspired, on doing much more.  “The idea is to restore the grandeur and the majesty,” said Father Pace.  “Our ancestors have handed us a beautiful church.”

The project also has a purely practical side to it, one of maintaining the building, quite literally from top to bottom.  That consideration has included roofing repairs and sealing of the basement walls to ensure the structure of the building.  Some of the work has already started.  

But there is much more to do before the entire project is finished, and it carries a formidable price tag of $1,950,000.

“It’s a big project, a challenge,” Dr. Greg Foster, the chairman of the church’s Heritage Campaign fundraiser, said in speaking of not only the scope of the construction project, but also the means to pay for it.

An artist’s rendition of St. Mary’s future sanctuary that recalls, in beautiful colors and forms, the interior of the church prior to the fire was shown to the entire parish last fall.

“Once they saw the picture, there was a conversion experience,” said Father Pace of the picture’s persuasive powers.

The parish response, according to Dr. Foster and Father Pace, has been as impressive as the purpose and the vision the members have fort their church.  The Heritage Campaign, which is sub-titled, “Moving forward in Christ; Honoring our past,” has been going on since September of last year.  The first phase of the fundraising drive in which volunteers made personal appeals to parishioners at their homes, ended the first week in May. The fundraising drive has so far raised nearly $1.1 million in pledges. That will be added to the $500,000 in parish savings that will be used to cover the cost of construction. 

Fundraising efforts will continue, Dr. Foster said. There is still about 35% of the parish, which is comprised of 428 families, yet to be contacted, Father Pace said.

The plan is for construction to begin in April of 2008.

There is a lot of anticipation at St. Mary’s and it’s growing. “Those who have made pledges can’t wait for it (construction) to start,” said Dr. Foster.

That anticipation is for the look of the past.  “They want to see it come back,” said Father Pace.

But church members will have to be patient.  Both the redemption of the pledges and the construction will be phased in over a number of years.

Kathy Barth, a life-long member of the parish and a member of the church Restoration Committee, is one of those agreeing that it will be worth waiting for.

She and her husband, Bob, were married at St. Mary’s Church in 1970.  And she can still vividly recall the splendid facade of the church with its grand expanse of white steps for the group wedding picture. “It was a perfect setting,” she said.

That look has been lost since a portico and covered entrance were later added to the church, she said.

The new addition and other aspects of the project will do much to restore the historic look of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, according to Barth.  But its historical accuracy will have the effect of being a true testament to the proud legacy entrusted to the parish.  “I’m a firm believer in that,” said Barth.

All the other believers at St. Mary’s would almost certainly say “Amen” to that, as well.

Father Woodrow Pace stands among the pews in the existing church interior.

The future sanctuary of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Neillsville will have the look of the interior of the church before it was destroyed by fire in 1923.  Artist rendition by Gary Gabrys

The future front exterior of the church will restore many of the attributes of the former church building.  Design drawing by River Architects, of La Crosse