St. Joseph Catholic Church ponders history, future

As the parish council and officials with St. Joseph Catholic Church consider expanding its White Avenue campus, they are debating whether to renovate or demolish the parish hall, left, which was built in 1884 as the original church.

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Gretel Daugherty

As the parish council and officials with St. Joseph Catholic Church consider expanding its White Avenue campus, they are debating whether to renovate or demolish the parish hall, left, which was built in 1884 as the original church.

By Amy Hamilton
Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Plans to create a campus with a new parish hall, classrooms, an administration building and a 24-hour adoration chapel at St. Joseph Catholic Church in downtown Grand Junction are being formed, according to church officials.

But uncertainty about whether the church will tear down the current parish hall or the stone church on the southeast corner of White and Third Street characterized by its massive, colorful, stained-glass windows, has some residents a little uneasy.

The parish hall, which originally was the church, was built in 1884. It was deemed structurally unsound by an engineer in November, and the church no longer uses the space to host meetings or provide education there because of the risk of the building caving in.

Without the use of the space, the expanding congregation is in need of room to conduct church functions, said Kristy Schmidt, president of the Parish Pastoral Council. The St. Joseph congregation, with 4,000 families, is the largest of any one church in the Pueblo Diocese.

Schmidt said no decision has been made about whether to tear down the parish hall. If it is torn down, many of its historical pieces, such as its windows, doors, bricks and the cornerstone, will be incorporated into a new parish hall or other new buildings, she said.

“We’re looking at: What are we going to do if it does get demolished?” she said. “If we’re building a new hall, we’ll be preserving as much as possible into new facilities.”

Schmidt said church officials are looking at the costs, benefits and life span of renovating the old church or building a new parish hall. Estimates provided by the church show it would cost $1.3 million to renovate the parish hall and nearly $1.5 million to create a new parish hall. The lifespan of a renovation is estimated at up to 25 years. A new parish hall could last more than 50 years. The Pueblo Diocese also has a role in the decision-making process.

Church officials have talked to Grand Junction city planning staff about their desire to demolish the building and to create a new campus center, but the city has not received paperwork for either plan, Senior Planner Lori Bowers said. Demolishing the building simply would require a $10 permit, and the process is not subject to any level of city review because the building is not listed on the historic register, she said.

“There’s not a whole lot we can say. If they want to demo it, they can demo it,” Bowers said.

Getting the building onto a historic register would not be difficult, and grant funding for structural assessments and renovations are available for protected buildings, said Patrick Eidman, manager of the endangered-places program with Colorado Preservation Inc.

Part of the building’s historic roots date back to the way founding father George Crawford designed Grand Junction, with a number of churches along White Avenue all situated on the northeast corner of each block.

“My gut instinct is the building is definitely eligible for the national register,” Eidman said.

Entities that have buildings on a historic register can be eligible for grants between $250,000 and $400,000, usually accompanied by a 25 percent match. Grants for structural assessments, valued at up to $15,000, do not require matching funds, Eidman said.

Handy Chapel, 200 White Ave., just west of the Catholic church’s parish hall on White Avenue, is the latest example of historic preservation in action, Eidman said. The 120-year-old church that served as a center for the African-American community recently raised $68,000 to access more than $200,000 in grants secured through the State Historical Fund and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Preservation Inc. will serve as the grant administrator on the project.

Eidman said he received a number of calls from Grand Junction citizens concerned about the possibility the original St. Joseph church could be demolished.

“I know resources are tight,” he said, “but I’d hate to see them tear down a building, especially with the recent loss of White Hall and its original use as a church. It’d be a shame to lose another one.”

Schmidt said church officials have investigated the preservation option but are concerned because it doesn’t appear grants are guaranteed.

Also, Schmidt said, a majority of parishioners support the building of a new parish hall.

A survey of parishioners’ “Christmas Wish List” showed more than 60 percent of them wanted a new parish hall with a better kitchen. Survey results also said less than 10 percent of parishioners wanted to renovate the existing parish hall, and less than 10 percent wanted to save the stained glass windows.

Jim Nasalroad formerly attended St. Joseph, but he now attends Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. He posted a note on the St. Joseph Facebook page, citing his concerns that the parish hall may be demolished. Nasalroad said he posted the note specifically because he wanted to draw attention to it, and he didn’t feel conversation was flowing about the possibility the church may be knocked down.

Like Riverside School, 552 West Main St. in Riverside neighborhood, Nasalroad thinks the old parish hall could be renovated, used again and become a source of pride.

“I’d like to see them do something to preserve the old church,” he said. “It just didn’t sound like they were trying to find any other way to preserve it. It’s part of our community. It’s part of our downtown and the history of downtown.”