Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 73, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 February 1909 — ST. JOSEPH’S NEW CHURCH. [ARTICLE]

ST. JOSEPH’S NEW CHURCH.

The needs of a growing college are many. One after another they manifest themselves. This has also been the experience at St. Joseph’s Each year has revealed some new want, and we can say that it has always been met without delay. Only last year an infirmary was erected, and various improvements made in the main buildings, and now that we thought the equipment almost complete, we are to have a new Church —and a grand ond at that. The large attendance has made it necessary. After the opening of school it was found that the present chapel is unable to accommodate all, and when this fact was submitted to the Fathers of the Congregation of the Precious Blood at the Fall Conference, they at once gave their consent for the erection of a new Church. A committee was appointed to confer with the Rev. Rector, Augustine Seifert, C. PP. S., concerning the plans and location of the same. This committee met in November, and accepted the plans of Mr. Herman J. Gahl of Chicago, which provide for a Church in the Romanesque style of architecture. The front is flanked by two towers, of the height of 130 feet; the extreme length is 172 and the width 84 feet. ■ The material is red brick, with stone trimmings and a stone foundation. The basement which will have a height of 14 feet, will be used for a Refectory. A detailed description of the interior of the edifice will be given

later, but we may say here that it will contain eleven alters, and a large sanctuary and choir loft. The Church will be located southeast of the main building, facing north. It is to be completed next September, and will cost about $70,000, exclusive of the cost of excavation and hauling material. Some fifty feet to the west of the Church will be erected a Sisters’ house, in which there will also be the kitchen and the store-rooms. It is thought that the space gained by the vacation of the Chapel, the Sisters’ quarters, store-rooms, etc., will afford accommodation for about a hundred students in addition to the two hundred residing here at present.

It is' a matter of great pride to the students, and, we are sure, to the graduates and friends of the College, that the increase in the number of students warrants the erection of such a beautiful and spacious chapel. St. Joseph’s has enjoyed a steady growth, ever since its foundation, seventeen years ago. Without a cent of endowment and material help of any kind, and in spite of the fact that it is exclusively for Catholic students, it has added each year to its equipment, and we are sure that the erection of this Church means another forward stride, and that many more will avail themselves of the splendid opportunities afforded for the development of heart and mind and body.—St. Joseph’s Collegian.