The Parish Life Center
Since its founding as a mission in 1875, St. Joseph has aimed to live and spread the Gospel in Olpe and the surrounding area. As time and needs changed, so did our parish. Now, we take another step to serve our community for many more years.
The Parish Life Center
A Place For:
Community, Education, Formation, & Growth
Designed from the ground up to strengthen our community, to make disciples, and to continue our legacy of excellent education, the new Parish Life Center will equip us to evangelize a whole new generation.
The new Parish Life Center will sit at the location of the school. This will preserve the beauty of our current campus, while allowing us to say goodbye to a beloved building which no longer serves our needs. The Parish Life Center will incoporate major parts of the facade of the school, preserving our history and setting us on a path to growth.
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Questions & Answers
Our parish needs a place more fitted with the demands of evanglization and formation of today. Particularly, we need a place where we can have Religious Education Class, adult education, general Christian Formation and small group opportunities. The Parish Life Center will achieve all these and more, setting us up to grow as a community for the next generation of Catholics.
The Old School has been a beloved part of our community since 1922. Unfortunately, over the last several decades it has fallen into a state of disrepair. The cost of renovation of the building would be in the multiple of millions. Moreover, even then, it would not be well suited for our needs of today.
Several developers were consulted about the possibility of using the old building for a new purpose. After discussions, though, it became clear that due to the needs of the building this was financially unfeasible.
Because of this, the decision was made to demolish the school and use the ground on which it stands to develop a new building, called, 'The Parish Life Center.' This will help us to retain our beautiful campus as well as fit our grounds to be a central part of our community for many years into the future.
Yes. The current construction plans use several pieces of the front facade of the old school in the new Parish Life Center. Moreover, before it is demolished, we will go through the building and save what can be used and find a new home for what can't. More details about this process will come soon.
There are a few scenarios possible, all of which include classes still thriving during construction. Negotiations are underway and the plans will be revealed when finalized.
During construction this space will be completely closed for safety reasons. After the Parish Life Center is completed, we hope to make the back area a prime location for parish and community events, as well as formational opportunities.
The original plans were developed quickly to comply with the requirements of the Archdiocesan One Faith, One Family, One Future campaign. Since then, the economy has changed drastically, as well as the current needs of our parish. When Fr. Ashmore arrived he requested that the parish reevaluate all plans. When he, in conjunction with the New Building Committe and the Pastoral and Finance Councils, examined all options the decision was made to adjust the plans, including changing of the location of the building from behind the Church to where the school currently stands. This allows the cost to remain largely the same as it was previous to his arrival while also solving several other parochial needs.