The Catholic Weekly - The Catholic Times at 1520 Court Street, Saginaw, MI 48602 US - Tawas City Church & Property Sold

Tawas City - In a joint statement issued today the Diocese of Gaylord announced that approximately three acres of land and associated buildings located in Tawas City has been sold to St. Joseph Health System (SJHS). The Lake Street site was formerly the location of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic parish. In 1997, the parish merged with St. Joseph in East Tawas to form Holy Family Catholic Church. While parishioners regularly worshipped in Tawas City and utilized the parish hall and rectory, they also maintained the Catholic elementary school and parish offices in East Tawas. St. Joseph Church became the school chapel and was used for school masses and other special liturgies. Following many studies, "town hall" meetings and consultation with the Diocese, parishioners decided to vacate the Lake Street property. "It was becoming difficult to properly maintain all of the buildings and so in the spirit of good stewardship our parish and finance Councils conscientiously investigated our options," said Fr. Ron Gronowski, pastor of Holy Family parish. "We really wanted to be together in one area. By moving and doing some remodeling, we increased our seating capacity to about 475 and were able to use many elements from the church on Lake Street," Gronowski added. The next step was to determine what would be done with the former location. After further discussions and the initial inquiry from St. Joseph Health System, the parish approached Bishop Patrick Cooney for permission to sell the property. Bishop Cooney consulted with the Presbyteral Council, College of Consultors, Vicars and Diocesan Finance Council prior to approving the plan. As part of the purchase agreement with the Health System, the church will be demolished and certain areas prepared for seeding by the parish. The fellowship hall and rectory will be renovated by SJHS. Much of the contents from the buildings are being used at the East Tawas campus or were given to parishioners, while the stained glass windows and some altar furnishings are being stored for future use. The church's bell and mechanism will be moved to the current parish located on Wilkenson Street. SJHS President and CEO, Patrick Murtha, explained that Tawas St. Joseph Hospital's outpatient volume has consistently grown by five to eight percent annually. "Over the last five to eight years, we have been challenged to meet the growing health needs of the community - especially outpatient. Orthopedics, surgery and other outpatient services are expanding with little or no space available. Over the last five years, we have had several renovation projects in an attempt to address space needs. On a short term basis, we have been successful in integrating new services and housing state of the art technology; however, if we are to continue meeting the needs of the community, we need to expand." Murtha went on to say that a master campus plan was recently developed and plans for renovating the fellowship hall and rectory include the expansion of rehabilitative services and business functions. "Housing all of our rehabilitative services in one location will directly benefit our patients as well as operations. Many of our patients utilizing rehabilitative services, require more than one discipline. Grouping our physical, occupational, speech and other therapies together will provide our patients with better access to care that is more convenient and streamlined. The big plus factor is that our services will remain conveniently located near the hospital's main campus," said Murtha. Murtha further noted that relocating rehabilitative services and business functions to the former Holy Family site will free up needed space in the hospital allowing an expansion of surgical, orthopedic and cancer services. Renovation of the former fellowship hall and rectory are expected to be completed by early 2002. SJHS has retained the services of Wigen Tincknell Meyer & Associates, an architectural firm located in Saginaw, to assist with renovations. "We're very grateful to St. Joseph Health System for their willingness to purchase the entire site," Gronowski noted. "We're happy to know that this beloved site will remain in 'the family.' From what was once a place of spiritual healing, we turn our buildings over to a place of physical healing through this wonderful Catholic institution," he concluded. The Diocese of Gaylord encompasses the 21 most northern counties of Michigan's lower peninsula and includes 81 parishes and 19 schools. More information on the diocese can be found on the Internet at DioceseofGaylord.org. SJHS is sponsored by Ascension Health, the largest Catholic health care organization in the nation.

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