Dear Parishioners,
Another way to honor our past, is to simply share your memories of events in the current church as well as those when we were located on 7th Street. I have loved hearing how things were built, rebuilt, renovated, fixed, etc. I love to hear about the various ministries, movements, and events that have taken place here at St. Anne in the past. I know some basics about how the Charismatic Renewal took root in our parish, how our youth program hosted a national gathering of REACH youth ministers, how the school was created and fostered, the difficulties encountered with unexpected underground springs during the construction of the extra wing for the school, how funds were raised in the “Two-by-Two” capital campaign for the Parish Center and how it was built, and the colorful stories of our former priests and on and on. If you have any photos you would like to share, it would be wonderful to make a collage for people to see.
Conceptual Elevation Rendering of St. Anne, July 31, 1956
A few weeks ago, I went looking through our collection of old drawings and plans that dated just before 1960. What I found was quite surprising. Below are two renderings of a potential church building and campus that was dated to July 31, 1956. It is a mission style structure with a very ambitious master plan including classrooms for a school, a rectory, and convent. Clearly, Fr. Kelly had some big ideas for the future. I wonder if anyone today was ever shown these drawings and if so, I wonder if they are still alive today. Let me know if you ever saw this plan before, as I would be curious to hear why it was scrapped.
Master Plan renderings of conceptual new church, July 31, 1956
While this plan never moved beyond conceptual drawings, it reminds me of the myriad of conceptual drawings our current Core Building Committee reviewed from S & B James Construction. In the end, as with our current plan, dreams had to come down to reality and something more modest was chosen, something that was affordable and functional.
Blessings,
Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor