FRACKVILLE — The final days of existence for the former St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church building and its rectory began this week with the start of demolition.
The Building Recyclers LLC, Kutztown, was on site to begin the work on the former rectory, located on about 1.3 acres of land that includes the church. The property is along Frack Street between Center and Nice streets.
The rectory demolition began on Tuesday. Building Recyclers Project Manager and estimator Frank A. Martin, who was on site Wednesday, said the demolition work on the church should begin today when the heavy equipment arrives. The work will begin at the rear of the church.
The last Mass was celebrated in St. Joseph’s on Nov. 1, 2015, after which the church was permanently closed. The church at Frack and Center streets was one of three church buildings that made up St. Joseph Parish, which was created with the July 2013 consolidation of St. Joseph, St. Ann and Annunciation parishes in Frackville.
Worship services continued to be held in all three church buildings, but the parish finance and pastoral advisory councils, under the direction of the pastor, the Rev. Robert T. Finlan, continued to study the situation, knowing that the parish’s financial condition would not long permit the use of all three buildings.
The church building has deteriorated over decades, and the need to replace the boiler at a cost of almost $46,000 in order to get a state operating certificate contributed to the decision to close and demolish.
After reviewing the engineering study of the building, the diocesan Parish Capital Improvement Committee recommended that the church be closed and its status changed under church law so that it could be demolished.
“I drove by today (Tuesday) and they have started to work on the rectory,” Finlan said. “Looking at the engineering studies, the rectory needed an awful lot of work. It looks good from the outside, but it’s not really in great shape. It wasn’t an easy building to do a lot with immediately. We looked at different things and thought that in the long-term it was better to have a cleared parcel to work with.”
Finlan added, “The pastoral advisory committee and the finance committee felt that it was better to take it all down and then work on some use for the land that would be good for the parish and also good for the borough. There are no firm plans for the land, which is central to the town of Frackville. We did talk about trying to parcel it out ourselves. If we do that, we have to make sure that we didn’t cut off access to the land.”
With the possibility of selling the property, it will be necessary to exhume the body of the Rev. George P. Boyle, a former pastor who died in 1960 and was buried near the rectory.
“Father Boyle is buried in the front yard,” Finlan said. “When he passed away, he requested to be buried in the yard. They honored the request, and we’ve been working on moving him to a nice place at the cemetery.”
Arrangements will also be made to remove from the yard a pro-life memorial and marble altar that were placed there in 1993.
“Those were donated by the Knights of Columbus of Frackville,” Finlan said. “We’ve been working with them. At the cemetery, we’re making an area for the altar and the memorial stone. It could be a place where we could celebrate Mass, whether it would be Memorial Day or All Souls Day.
The parish was formed in 1909 after being a mission church of Holy Rosary Church in Mahanoy Plane for many years, the decision prompted by the continue growth of the mission. The Rev. Thomas Hurton became the first pastor of St. Joseph Church in April 1909. A special meeting of the parish was held on June 10, 1912 to decide if a new, larger church and parochial school should be built. The decision was made to build on the site of the present church building. Hurton was elected as chairman of the building committee, with the Rev. Philip J. Mullen as secretary. Breslin Contracting of Summit Hill was given the construction contract. In order to save money, the foundation was dug and set by parishioners.
The cornerstone was laid in September 1912, and at 11:45 a.m. on May 18, 1913, dedication services were held by the Most Rev. Edmond Francis Prendergast, archbishop of Philadelphia, assisted by the Rev. F.J. McGovern, Pottsville, and the Rev. T.J. Larkin, Mauch Chunk.
The dedication Mass, which was held outdoors to accommodate the crowd, was celebrated by the Right Rev. Dennis J. Dougherty, bishop of Jaro, Philippine Islands, assisted by the Rev. Vincent W. Corcoran of Lost Creek and the Rev. P.J. Fleming. The choir of Holy Rosary Church provided the music for the Mass. Several Masses were celebrated that day, including a Children’s Mass by the Rev. Richard Phelan, Minersville, with a homily by the Rev. C.J. O’Neill, pastor of St. Kieran Church, Heckscherville.