St. Anne parishioners to break ground on new church in March

These architectural drawings prepared by Entheos Architects show the front, rear and side elevations of the new St. Anne Church in New Castle, which is expected to be completed in the spring of 2010, three years after the parish’s historic church was destroyed in an arson fire on Holy Saturday, April 7, 2007. (Illustrations courtesy Entheos Architects)

By Mary Ann Wyand

St. Anne parishioners in New Castle are journeying through their second Advent season without a church, and are looking forward to celebrating the birth of Christ as a faith community.

They will gather for Christmas Mass in Bundy Auditorium at New Castle High School again this December instead of in the basement of the St. Anne Parish Life Center, where they celebrate weekend liturgies with Father Joseph Rautenberg, sacramental minister, and Franciscan Sister Shirley Gerth, parish life coordinator.

And they are excited about the groundbreaking ceremony for their new church on March 29, 2009, and the start of construction on April 14, 2009.

It has been nearly two years since their beloved church was destroyed by an arson fire during the early morning hours on Holy Saturday, April 7, 2007.

The historic Henry County landmark is gone forever, and now even the charred shell of the brick church completed in 1924 is coming down as a demolition crew prepares the site for the groundbreaking and new construction next spring. Demolition work started on Nov. 17.

“Seeing this demolition is actually harder for me than two years of looking at the [gutted] walls of the church,” Sister Shirley said in a telephone interview on Dec. 3. “It’s just a mess out there. I will be very happy when this work is completed. At least half of the walls on each side are down. They have had to use a blowtorch to cut the steel beams. It looks like it’s going to be at least six weeks of work. They had to use a sledge hammer on the steeple and bring it down by hand because they couldn’t get the [wrecking] equipment that high.”

After the Masses on Nov. 15-16, Father Rautenberg and Sister Shirley led the parishioners in a farewell ritual for the old church, which focused on “a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to rebuild” from Ecclesiastes (Eccl 3:1-3).

A painful era in St. Anne Parish’s history is slowly being transformed into a new time of waiting, a time of rebuilding and growth, a time of hope for the future of the faith community in an area of east-central Indiana that is only 2 percent Catholic.

The time capsule was recovered from the church’s cornerstone and will remain sealed until sometime in 2009.

The 10-foot-tall metal cross erected on top of the church steeple is in storage now, and parishioners would like to incorporate it into the design of the new church.

Parishioners have raised nearly $700,000 from fundraisers, donations and pledges during their “Rebuild My Church” campaign to supplement the archdiocesan insurance settlement.

Architectural plans for their new $3 million church will feature a handicap-accessible worship space that includes some of the traditional design elements of their former church.

Eric Atkins, director of the archdiocesan Office of Management Services and an architect, said on Dec. 3 that a comprehensive engineering analysis of the gutted church determined that new construction would be the best option for the parish.

“There were extensive studies done on the structure after the fire on what would need to be done to restore the building,” Atkins explained. “The studies over a period of months were also done to help determine the total dollar loss for the insurance claim. It was determined that the actual reconstruction cost to restore the church would be pretty substantial, yet we would still be faced with significant accessibility challenges because of the way the original building was configured.”

St. Anne’s staff and building committee discussed the parish’s needs with archdiocesan representatives over a period of months, he said, while the insurance company negotiated the settlement.

Atkins said the new church will sit at an angle on the existing site at 102 N. 19th St., with the church entrance facing the Parish Life Center and closer to the parking lot behind the former school building.

He said the church will accommodate 350 people within the nave of the building with pews focused in a semicircular fashion around an elevated sanctuary. A replica of the former stained-glass rose window will let in light above the sanctuary at the south end of the church.

“The floor of the nave has a slight slope to it,” Atkins said. “The sanctuary will be elevated two steps up to the altar and ambo, and will be fully accessible with a ramp on the back side of the sanctuary. Behind the sanctuary wall will be a small sacristy for storage of sacred vessels.”

He said construction of the new church is expected to be completed in the spring of 2010, hopefully in time for Easter.

“The parish has gone through an emotional experience,” Atkins said. “It’s been a long process for them. They are very anxious to get the new church under construction and get it completed so they can worship in their parish church again.

“The parish building committee has done an admirable job of researching and exploring all the different options and providing a clear direction for the parish,” he said. “Sister Shirley has done a tremendous job of helping the parish through a tragic episode. She has been very instrumental in helping build community through this tragedy and guide the parish in a new chapter in its history.” †