Our History

The Buildings

We needed a church and school but finances permitted only one, so we opted for the school. We planned construction of a church later on the site of the present athletic field on Bunker Hill. Construction of buildings housing classrooms for eight grades, school offices, a gymnasium and a cafeteria was completed in 1958. The gym was set up for use as a temporary church.

Immediately upon his arrival, Fr. Pekar remodeled the rectory with the thought that this would become a convent for nuns teaching at our school. Fr. Pekar planned to construct a new rectory next to the planned church on Bunker Hill. Meanwhile, the home of Gus and May Anthony at 917 Magdalene became available and Bishop Nold bought it for use as a convent on December 28, 1960, for $28,000. Fr. Pekar began remodeling the house to include a chapel, a community and recreation room, a kitchen and housing for ten nuns. It was the first convert of the Incarnate Word order other than the Mother House on Richmond Road.

Building continued. In mid-1962, nine classrooms, a cafeteria, library, and storage facilities were added to the school to accommodate the expected 575 students. In the summer of 1964, the rectory was constructed by adding a second floor, and seven temporary metal classroom buildings were built. Wall paneling was added in the gym/church, and a room was added to the barbecue building and used as a classroom.

Finances permitting, we constructed our new church in 1978, our community center in 1988, and substantial additions to our school in 1995. Citing its “visual strength and humility”, the architects of the new church received the Nicholas Clayton Award for Outstanding Design with Masonry. The 14 bronze Stations of the Cross in the new church were sculpted and cast in France between 1828 and 1830, salvaged from the bombed St. Mary's Church in Plymouth, England, and donated to us by a parishioner. The Corpus of the large crucifix over the altar was retained from the crucifix in the old church to preserve continuity between the two churches.

These extraordinary parish facilities are used not only by our parishioners but by the community we serve at large. They are used by Alcoholics Anonymous, the AARP in its "Alive at 55" driver's education program, interdenominational athletic use, Emotion Anonymous, and various musical programs and concerts.