Volunteer effort saves St. Casimir's onion dome for future memorial

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
July 12, 2007

A piece of diocesan and Sioux City history will be preserved as a group of individuals pooled their efforts in order to save the dome of a Catholic church.

According to Jim Jung, chairman of the Sioux City Historic Preservation Commission, about two years ago he was approached about saving the cupola (dome) of St. Casimir Church in Sioux City for future use as a memorial. Although he knew it would be a big project, he was up for a challenge and the phone calls ensued.

"As I've grown up and been interested in preservation, I look at some things this way: Sometimes you can't save a whole building, but you can save some parts of it. This is an example of that," said Jung.

Built in 1915 to serve Lithuanian immigrants, announcement of its closing came in 1995 as part of the long-range planning process in the diocese called Ministry 2000: Our Baptismal Call. The final Mass was held at St. Casimir's on June 24, 1998.

Jung noted that the cupola is an onion dome, Byzantine in style.

"This is a revival style building. There's no certain specific style. It takes several different styles and throws them together," he explained. "This is the only dome like that in Sioux City."

Jung said William Steele, a well-known local architect who built many buildings here such as the Sioux City Courthouse, designed the church.

He was happy to see the dome removed on July 9 thanks to the cooperation of many - the diocese, W.A. Klinger, Dave Bernstein and the Historic Preservation Commission.

"We understand the unique architectural design of the cupola and support the Sioux City Historic Preservation Commission in their endeavors to save this part of St. Casimir Church," said Royce Ranniger, director of operations for the Diocese of Sioux City. "The people involved - Klinger Construction and Jim Jung - have been most cooperative in getting this accomplished."

Doug Ohlfest, president of W.A. Klinger, LLC, pointed out that they opted to become involved in the project of removing the dome because "we have always been a strong supporter of community interest. We understand the strong ties to the history of that church and felt it was important to try to preserve it."

In addition, he noted, Klinger has a key employee who after WWII had moved to Sioux City with his parents as a refugee. Leon Skuodas, a native of Lithuania, and his family lived in the church for six weeks after they moved here.

"It's a very personal thing as part of our Klinger family," noted Ohlfest, who added that Skuodas led the effort in removal of the dome.

Skuodas said that he was more than willing to volunteer his services for this project. Presently he is semi-retired, working part-time for Klinger.

"My roots started here. I was an altar boy here," he noted.

Dave Bernstein of State Steel in Sioux City is storing the dome.

"We are happy to store it, it's an interesting piece of history," he said. "I think it's great. Preservation is important. Once stuff like this is gone, it's gone forever."

For the time being, the dome will remain in storage, but in the meantime the Historic Preservation Commission will look at options in regards to the location and type of design for a memorial.

Along with the dome, St. Casimir Church continues to have a lasting legacy in the diocese as on July 1, 1998 the parish's finance and pastoral councils agreed that with remaining parish assets an endowment fund would be established to provide tuition assistance for needy elementary students enrolled in Catholic elementary schools in Sioux City.

After the cupola was removed, the diocese initiated the process of razing the building.

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