A historic Polish Catholic church in Michigan City, Indiana, has been awarded more than half a million dollars as part of a major capital campaign to preserve the structure that parishioners themselves helped build a century ago.
St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish recently received two grants — $400,000 from Indiana Landmarks and $250,000 from the National Fund for Sacred Places — amid a $3 million fundraising effort to address significant construction needs.
The parish in Michigan City traces its roots back to 1890 when then-Fort Wayne Bishop Herman Alerding appointed Father Emmanuel Wrobel to start a parish for the Polish residents of the city.
The cornerstone for the present Renaissance revival-style church was laid in 1916 and it was completed in 1926. Father Walter Ciesla, the pastor of St. Stanislaus, told CNA that the building “was built mostly by parishioners themselves.”
“They dug the foundation of this church by hand,” he said. “They were on scaffolds laying the brickwork.”
Initially, the parish hall was used as a church, Ciesla said, after which the parishioners “built their way up.”
“It was initially for the Polish-speaking people of the area,” he said. “The windows have memorials for Polish-speaking families in the city.”
The National Fund for Sacred Places announced that the parish would receive $250,000 in order to assist with the church’s “substantial renovation projects.”
Rachel Hildebrandt, the director of the fund, told CNA the organization is bankrolling “masonry restoration and the restoration of [the parish’s] 87 stained-glass windows, including its iconic rose windows.”
Masonry repairs will include fixing an incorrect mortar application originally done in the 1960s, which has contributed to the deterioration of the building. Columns on the church’s two bell towers will also have to be repaired.
“For many congregations, the National Fund scope of work shifts a bit between program entry and the start of construction as we work to assess the condition of the building and establish priorities for repair,” Hildebrandt said, “but as far as we know at this moment, it’s the masonry and stained glass that we’ll be focusing on.”
The $250,000 grant comes after a $400,000 matching grant earlier this year from the nonprofit Indiana Landmarks via its Sacred Places Indiana initiative. The parish is ultimately looking to raise as much as $3 million through fundraising and matching grants.
Ciesla, who has served at the parish for 25 years, said the church building has been a major landmark in the area for a century. The parish also has an attached school with 120 students from pre-K through eighth grade. “They’re involved with the parish activities,” he said.
The church still recognizes its historic Polish roots, the priest said, which include the singing of Polish carols at Christmas.
Ciesla said the church is home to generations of Catholics who have attended Mass there for decades.
“It’s an old parish,” he said. “We have great-grandchildren who are going here with their great-grandparents.”
An Our Sunday Visitor report from 1926, meanwhile, attested to the beauty of the church, one of which the parishioners “may be justly proud.”
“The edifice is not only an ornament to the whole city,” the paper reported, “but it is also a splendid monument to all who took an active part in making its construction possible.”
