June 12, 2017 at 3:44 p.m.
Nativity breaks ground on remodel, expansion
$3.6 million project over 12 years in the making
Nativity breaks ground on remodel, expansion
The $3.6 million project that kicked off with the ceremony has been in the works since before St. Mary's and St. Joseph's merged to become one church.
According to Mary Dahl, project manager, the church has known this day was coming for over 10 years.
"While there have certainly been struggles along the way, through the dedicated efforts of many, we are finally able to break ground today," Dahl said in her opening remarks.
Nativity pastor Father Randy Knauf quoted Psalm 127, which reads "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain" from which he crafted a prayer.
"This is, from the ancient experience of the faithful people, a reminder that our labors are a gift of God, and that labor itself enables us to produce in coming months a renewed house of worship here in Rhinelander," Knauf said. "We have been praying for many years, just as the ancient people prayed. We prayed about what to build, we prayed about who and how. We prayed with all those plans to our additions, and we prayed in gratitude of the donations that have, and will make, this project possible."
He said the end result has not been the work of one or a few people, but dialogue, fundraising, brainstorming and "years of listening and dreaming" to the point where the plans and artists renderings that were on display were finally reached.
City council president George Kirby represented mayor Dick Johns at the ceremony. He spoke not only as a city official, but also as a member of the parish who has participated in the many years of effort that went into what the ceremony symbolized.
"The Catholic community is proud, as they should be, to be hopeful in the commitment that is the key to success that faith allows us," Kirby said.
Kirby then surprised Knauf and the audience by presenting an old placard he had saved from a church fire in 1960 when he was an alter boy. He said a former priest told him he could keep it after he found it on the ground.
"It's back where it belongs," Kirby said. "It was really a neat coincidence that we were able to do this and tie this together today."
After the ceremony, Dahl went into more detail about the long journey the church has gone through with the project.
"I think it actually goes back as far as 2005 when the first meetings were started," she said. "At that point, the two parishes were moving - St. Mary's and St. Joseph's - the two parishes merged and the thought was to build a new church at a new location. That idea never came to fruition, so we had to look at renovating or adding onto existing spaces. The question then was which church and where, and what our budget could afford?"
A major part of the renovation is the removal of the balcony in the main worship area of the church itself. This was decided because over the years, the need for the balcony for the choir has changed.
"Typically, choirs are no longer in the balconies, so that space is really underutilized," Dahl said. "So we're actually going to create a gathering space in the back portion of what is now the existing church so people have a space for fellowship outside of the worship space."
The baptismal font will be moved to this rear area from up near the alter. Dahl said this is seen as symbolic for re-entering the baptism itself as you enter the church.
She added that the entire church is being renovated during the project, including HVAC system, electrical wiring and new pews.
"So the whole building is getting an interior facelift," she said.
Knauf said there will be many improvements that will not be so noticeable.
"A lot of the technology that is being built into the renovation, improved hearing systems for people, and improved sight lines for people, all those things are something that the community here has been looking for for years and years and years," Knauf said.
A new entryway into the church will be part of the project as well. It will eliminate the front steps which are a problem for some parishioners in the winter, Knauf said.
The church school, which has seen a series of renovations over the past few summers, will be getting a new roof as part of the church renovation.
"We're also adding a new music room and doing some improvements to the school area," she said.
This past Sunday was the last time mass was held in the church as the construction kicks off. Services will be transferred to the Nativity North building until the renovations are complete. Knauf said the goal is to be back in the improved church, which has been a downtown fixture since it was built in the 1960s, in time for Easter 2018.
Jamie Taylor may be reached at [email protected].
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