Community restores abandoned church
by Cathy Wurzer, Minnesota Public Radio,Julie Siple, Minnesota Public Radio
Kenyon, Minn. — This Memorial Day, for the first time in nearly 50 years, a southern Minnesota community will celebrate Mass in a church abandoned half a century ago.
The archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis closed St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Cherry Grove Township in 1961. It was boarded up, and there it sat, on a hilltop, unlocked and unused.
Preservationists placed the church on the list of the state's 10 most endangered historic places in 2002.
Now, a group of community members called the Friends of St. Rose is working to restore the church and preserve its history.
St. Rose of Lima sits surrounded by fields near Kenyon, Minn. It was built in the 1870s by Irish immigrants.
Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer met Jill Palof from the friends of St. Rose, outside the limestone church to talk about its history.
