Groundbreaking for a new church for Oswego’s St. Anne Parish may come as early as summer as plans to replace a fire-damaged structure pick up speed.
Architects continue work on preliminary sketches, and Joliet diocesan officials are set to review plans and budgets later this month, according to St. Anne’s pastor, Rev. Daniel Stempora.
Ground could be broken in July, he said, and the church would be completed “no sooner than December of 2002.”
An early morning fire Jan. 24, 2000, gutted the interior of the 32-year-old Roman Catholic church, noted for its distinctive sloping spire. Local fire officials attributed the accidental blaze to combustible materials left too close to an electric space heater.
The old church still stands, but first-floor windows are boarded and the only entrance is padlocked. Sheets of blue plastic cover the roof and flap in the wind.
The spire still rises, but evidence of the fire can be seen by the holes near the top that allowed smoke to escape.
Rockford-based architects Larson and Darby Inc. are designing the new church. Representatives held a two-day local design session recently to meet parishioners, present sketches and collect suggestions.
Joyce Schomer, a parish member since 1974, said she liked much of what she saw.
“It’s not the `witches hat’ church,” she said, referring to the old church’s unique spire. “It’s not the church we loved and were married in and baptized in and had a history in. But it’s going to be our church. We have to think of it that way.”
Schomer was among 75 parishioners who attended the first day’s meetings.
A steady stream of visitors saw two designs. One had a sanctuary with an altar in the middle; another, favored by most parishioners, offered a more traditional floor plan with rows of seats fanning out from a front altar area.
On a nearby table, Larson and Darby architect Gene Elliott displayed a large sketchpad showing the church’s current lot near Boulder Hill Pass and U.S. Highway 34, and how a new structure might fit .
Based on drawings and layouts, it’s clear that the new St. Anne church will not look like its predecessor. One projection calls for a 25,000-square-foot building, more than twice the size of the original, as well as increased parking.
One configuration calls for tearing down the old church and the existing rectory to place the new structure in a more central position. A new rectory would be constructed elsewhere on the lot.
“I’m looking for something that’s unique, something that we can still put that landmark [label] on,” Schomer said. “I don’t want to have a box that’s our church.”
Since the fire, masses have been held in the parish’s Joachim Center, a multipurpose facility that opened in 1989 and includes offices, classrooms and a large central room that has served as a makeshift church and sanctuary. The room’s front wall is covered with a light-colored curtain and a small altar; a lectern and chair are in front.
Seating space is very tight. At a recent Sunday mass, the padded folding chairs accommodated perhaps 400 worshipers while late arrivals spilled out into the lobby and side hallways.
Stempora said the new facility would seat at least 1,200 people, compared with around 800 in the old church. The parish has 2,400 families, and membership is likely to increase as Oswego’s population boom continues.
Stempora declined to discuss specific costs, but Elliott speculated that a new structure could cost as much as $5 million.
“Right now, nothing is set in stone. It’s merely sketches,” Stempora said. “I like what they’ve created, and I think the building committee seemed to be pleased with it, as well as many people. But you can’t tell by just the drawings that they have. We need to see it in three dimensions.”
