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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSacredheartschoolOn Monday, March 18, 2024, a town hall meeting was held for members of St. Jude Parish (Sacred Heart is one of two worship sites in this Parish). The meeting was held to discuss the future of the Sacred Heart School. Attendees were given the opportunity to walk through the building prior to the meeting, which was well attended by parishioners. The meeting was led by a committee that had been assigned to look at the school building at the corner of 5th Avenue and Knapp Street. The Committee has spent 12 months looking at options for the school and presented their findings at this Town Hall meeting. Sacred Heart Catholic Church was founded in 1907. At that time, the area of Oshkosh west of Ohio Street was expanding. Many residents in the area were finding the distance to St Vincent’s (Oregon and South Park) excessive. A new parish was created, the building at 5th and Knapp was built and contained the church’s original worship site and a school. In 1938, the current worship site on 6th and Knapp was completed. The school was expanded into the former worship area, with a second floor added over the former worship area and turned into a gymnasium. The school continued in the 1907 building until 1997, when the Oshkosh Area Catholic Schools consolidated several of the parish schools into one entity (they are all now housed at Lourdes). The school building was not used extensively after 1997. Leanna Hall, still in use, was built at a later date and is accessible from the school building, it is not part of the building. For 25 years the building was heated, other systems were kept up as needed. In 2022, the heat to the building was turned off when the remaining boiler could no longer be repaired. In 2023, the Green Bay Diocese asked the Parish if there were plans for the empty building. This prompted the formation of the Committee to look at the options. One of the first actions was to invite Ben Ganther and Chet Weisenberg to look at the building from the perspective of possible repurposing, including renovation into apartments. There are many structural issues in the building, including failing roof trusses, lead and asbestos in the foundation, rotting windows, and floors that are buckling and heaving. There were plumbing issues in the building prior to 2022 when the heat was shut off. There is deterioration of the outside fascia, the chimney stack is starting to lean, bricks are falling off the building. Ganther and Weisenberg were not interested in renovating the building for other reasons than structural. The hallways are not wide enough and would have to be rebuilt to meet ADA standards. In comparison, hallways at St. Mary’s/Cabrini Lofts were wide enough for this purpose. Other issues are the location of the building on the campus, no space for tenant parking, and the fact that apartments on at least two sides of the building would have no view (besides the walls of other buildings) With both builders/developers not interested in renovation of the school, the Committee started reaching out to demolition and salvage companies in the area and state. Based on evaluation, 90-95% of the materials would be salvaged. If the church would decide to build on the site, it would use some of these materials. A decision about future use of the property after the school is gone has not been made at this time. As reported, the meeting was well attended. Members of St. Jude Parish understand the historic value of the Sacred Heart School to their Parish, the South Side and Oshkosh. Parishioners attending represented several generations of families that have attended Sacred Heart Parish and school. Those attending were realistic about the future and issues with the building. When the attendees were asked about the possibility of razing the building, probably 98% were in favor. The presentation materials, including current photos of the interior and exterior of the school would be available if the Landmarks Commission is interested in seeing them. The Wisconsin State Historical Society has contacted Parish Pastor/Administrator Louis Golamari about the future of this building. He will be responding to WSHS. A final decision on the building has not been made at this time. The recommendation of the Committee will go to the Parish Council and the Finance Committee, with additional approval from the Green Bay Diocese.