St. Mary's Spirit Lake breaks ground for new church
By Tavia Malone, Globe staff writer
Posted April 11, 2002

SPIRIT LAKE - Parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church will soon have a new addition to their parish family-a newly constructed church.

St. Mary's current church is too small to accommodate the growing population of the church, which numbers 550 families with more than 2,000 parishioners. The current church, built in 1956, has a capacity of 300, but about 330 have been showing up for weekly Masses.

Recently, Dickinson County had a sharp population gain, with Spirit Lake responsible for much of the increase. The town had a population growth of 8.1 percent, or 315 people from 1990 to 1998.

"The population of Dickinson County is increasing," said St. Mary's pastor Father Al Grendler in a fundraising letter. "More summer people are coming to the lakes earlier and staying longer. Many young families are moving to the lakes area. Our parish membership has doubled the past 13-15 years."

The need for a new church was first examined in 1999 with a survey of parishioners. Many parishioners expressed an interest in working on a capital campaign for the parish in order to expand the church.

A goal of $3 million was set, which was eventually changed to $2.5 million. Half of the $2.5 million was raised in order to begin construction.

"Feedback has been very positive. Sixty-five percent of parishioners participated in the campaign, which is a good percentage," said Father Grendler.

Groundbreaking for the new church was held on April 8. About 100 people were present, including Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo who blessed the site.

"It was a very spirit-filled event," said Father Grendler.

Renaissance Designs of Omaha was hired as the architect of the new facility in 1997, and planning began in 1998. Since then, the parish has managed to raise the money needed through the work of its planning committee. Four sub-committees with two planning committee members as co-chairs were also formed. The committees recruited 20 additional volunteers to assist them in their quest.

The new church will be able to better accommodate St. Mary's Parish at weddings and funerals, as well as during their "busy" months of April to October. In the past, the lakes area attracted more worshippers during the summer but in recent years their stay has increased.

"We at St. Mary's have a unique opportunity to welcome many guests and visitors to the lakes," said Father Grendler in his letter. "We welcome them to our worship as brothers and sisters in faith. Our space for that is inadequate."

The new church should accommodate 700 people in its planned worship space.