Did St. James really take its architect's advise on planning a new church?

This posting is also available at: http://www.boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/ More postings regarding St. James are available at that site.

Quite obviously it is difficult (if not impossible) to know what the “renowned Classical architect”, Duncan G. Stroik, told the parish officials on how to plan for its new church.  However Mr. Stroik has written extensively on church architecture and in this 2002 article (listed on his website), Mr. Stroiks advises priests on the many phases of the process. Did St. James follow this advise?

See Page 1:  As expected, Column 2 :  “The most important decision you will make is on the choice of the architect”.

Page 2: Column 2  “an architect’s fee can run anywhere from eight to 14 percent of the construction cost of the church”

Page 3:   Columns 2 & 3  “I suggest that priest try to involve the parish in the project early on”

“Consider creative ways for your parish to have imput on the project early on, whether this is with public discussion, filling out questionnaires or more casual discussion amongst the community.  One priest I know spent a couple of years holding lectures, prayer services and putting inserts in the bulletin to prepare the faithful for their new church.”

“Listen to all reasonable requests whether they are calling for a specific heating system, architectural style, flooring material or a shrine to a particular saint.

Page 4:  1st Paragraph, Column 3 “ …it is in-style to build churches that are too large.” ….”pastors are being encouraged by their bishops to build parishes of 1,000 seats or more.  I ask if they are aware that this is larger than most of the seating capacity of our Cathedrals in this country. “

“I ask pastors to try to determine what is the smallest seating capacity they could live with so they can use the limited budget to its best ability”

Page 5:  Column 2 “One of the nicest American traditions is the ethnic parish with the parish hall in the basement which can even be finished later.”

 

The article is available on the internet at:  http://www.stroik.com/pdf/publications/advice_to_priests.pdf  The article is from the July 2002, Our Sunday Visitor’s The Priest.

Click on the photocopy to enlarge:

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Sneak Preview: Letter to Editor of BCJ on the new St. James Church

 

Dear Boone County Journal Editor 6/27/2011

What is the true reason for destroying the historic St James Catholic church in Belvidere? Sure, the Catholic community has grown in Belvidere and Boone County. St James Church is full to capacity on occasion. Parking and traffic patterns are difficult, especially for local residence. Let’s examine another local community and how they dealt with growth. Belvidere has roughly 26,400 residences, Freeport has roughly 25,000. Freeport now has three Catholic churches: St Joseph, St Mary, and St Thomas Aquinas. The St Joseph church just celebrated 150 years and is a similar design to Belvidere’s St James church. To accommodate growth Freeport built the more modern St Thomas Aquinas church rather than tear down their history.

St James received a donation of 22 acres to build a new church on the intersection of Squaw Prairie and Town Hall. This generous offer yielded a perfect opportunity to build a 2^nd Catholic Church in Boone County, preserve the historic existing church and the surrounding community, and provide for future growth flexibility. Yet the current plan is to sell the 22 acre property, tear down the125 year existing church for a parking lot, and build a massive 70 ft tall structure on a lot adjacent to the school that is just too small to accommodate it. The new structure will be 30 feet from the school on one side, and just 4 inches from the sidewalk on the other. The height, setbacks, and parking are significant variance issues that the Zoning and Planning Commission have already given an approval recommendation. The Belvidere City Council has scheduled a meeting on July 5^th for a potential final vote and the meeting is open to the public. If approved, and the massive structure is built on the proposed lot, traffic patterns and parking will be a nightmare due to a reduced mass schedule and seating capacity expanded from the existing 350 to 850. What’s wrong with this picture?

Why did Father Geary and a small group of appointees choose this path rather than build on the 22 acres donated for the express purpose of building a new Catholic church? Some say the infrastructure costs (sewer and water) were too expensive. Others have said that building on the 22 acre site will draw parishioners and their money away from Rockford’s Holy Family Catholic church, whose boundary ends right at the Boone county line. When the Historic church is gone, and the massive new church is operational, most will look back and regret the decisions a few made for the majority. There is a growing concern that politics and a false sense of urgency have overridden good judgment.

This is a call to action. If you are troubled by St James’ current direction and would like to preserve Belvidere’s historic St James Church and prevent the impact to the surrounding neighborhood please:

• Call and write your alderman to voice your opinion before the July 5^th meeting, www.ci.belvidere.il.us
• Contact Father Geary or Bishop Doran and request an explanation
• Contact “Concerned citizens to save St James Church” and get involved
  • Robert Casey (racskc007@aol.com) 815-540-8655
  • Michael Mattus (magneticmike1@yahoo.com) 815-985-5560
  • Dan & Jean Christenson (Jeanchristenson@Live.com) 815-543-4179

Listen to Committee of Whole meeting of the City of Belvidere Regarding St. James Church Zoning

The Committee of the Whole meeting from Tuesday, June 27, 2011.

Click on the following to listen to the entire meeting click on the following: http://www.radiop1.com/mediacenter.aspx?stationid=16

THEN Go to the black box area of the screen (as shown below). In the line under Welcome to Belvidere, click on City Council.

The next screen is shown below.  Click on the Committee of the Whole in the bottom left listings.

The St. James Church portion begins at 1:56  The quality is not always the best.