Local priest renovates his fifth church; Holy Rosary Catholic Church reopens
This is the first time in 70 years that the church was renovated.
NORTH MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Years of planning for church renovations finally paid off for a local North Mankato priest.
For about eight years, Father Paul of Holy Rosary Catholic Church planned to upgrade the entirety of the building.
This is the fifth church Father Paul remodeled during his priesthood.
Holy Rosary church was closed for four months while interior renovations began.
On Sunday morning, the congregation finally saw the new interior for the first time.
This is the first time in 70 years that the church was renovated.
“This summer, we’ve been working on redoing the pews, and redoing the flooring- and then redid the woodwork, painted and changed some colors, and brought it up to its present code,” said Father Paul van de Crommert. “And we cleaned all the stonework, which was a massive undertaking.”
According to Father Paul, church repairs and upgrades have cost $750,000, so far.
The church is still waiting for statues to come from Italy.
Father Paul says his next plan is to renovate the social gathering area in the church’s basement.
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