Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

As part of our All Things New transitions, and as directed by our decree from the bishop, we have been looking at options for the St. Anne Adoration Chapel in Foreston. There have been a number of options floated, but most involve moving the chapel off its current site so that if the campus is sold, the chapel could still be used for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as intended by the primary donor, Mrs. Gloria Cessna, God rest her soul. Though the St. Louis Bertrand property is not yet on the real estate market, we are preparing for that. Obviously, we cannot know beforehand what kind of interest there would be in the property or how soon (or how long) it would be before a legitimate offer is received. If a sale were to happen in the winter, it would make it very difficult to move the chapel at that time – a foundation needs to be prepared and in place, various road restrictions during fall and spring, etc. And picking up the building and leaving it on a trailer until the temperature warms and the ground thaws can be potentially damaging to the building, and add a lot of additional costs.

 

If we are going to move the chapel, it makes sense to try to do as much work as possible as soon as possible. With that in mind, we will be having an Open Meeting at the St. Louis Bertrand parish center in Foreston on Tuesday, July 14th at 6:00 p.m. to discuss options and look at some details from different plans. Please consider coming to that meeting to share your thoughts or questions.

 

Topics for discussion:

 

• Options for final disposition of the chapel. Options here include: a stand-alone option at the same location; moving it to another church location for (near) perpetual adoration; moving it to another non-church location (such as the cemetery); selling it with the rest of the property or separately to someone who will move it themselves; and others.

 

• Timing for any move. The whole process of moving it would probably take around six weeks. We need to look at when it would be too late in the year to start, how early you could start in the spring, and how any of that might impact Adoration.

 

• Costs associated with different options. We have received a rough, preliminary estimate that moving the chapel to Milaca and attaching it to the church there would be around $50,000 for the whole project. It would likely be double that if moved further (to Mora or Foley). It would also be at least double the cost to have it be a stand-alone building, as that would require its own restrooms, plumbing, electricity, and heat/cooling.

 

Peace in Christ,

Father Timothy