Fifteen years after hosting its final congregational mass, the century-old St. Andrew Catholic Church is slated for demolition. “It’s in need of repair, the bricks and steeples, and there are safety concerns. Repairs would cost about $2.1 million, and with no parish there, obviously, it makes no sense,” said the Rev. Mark Gurtner, vicar general for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.
Erected in 1911, then-Bishop John D’Arcy closed the 103-family parish in 2003 when it was led by the Rev. Phillip Widmann, who was also pastor at the nearby and much larger St. Peter’s Catholic Church. Declining membership and a priest shortage requiring some men to serve more than one congregation contributed to the decision, D’Arcy explained at the time.
