Illinois parish transforms abandoned factory into senior community

The Cottage at Cathedral Square in Belleville, Ill., are next door to the church. (Courtesy of The Cathedral of St. Peter)

Peter Feuerherd | Aug. 18, 2016

The Cathedral of St. Peter in Belleville, Ill., received a gift of an abandoned pants factory, a decaying remnant of Midwest industry empty for 18 years, adjacent to the downtown church. It was an eyesore. A true lemon.

"To be good citizens we had to tear it down," said Msgr. John Myler, cathedral rector. "We were thinking we would just be left with a hole in the ground."

But demolishing it would cost more than half a million dollars. Combined with a near-empty convent, a building made to house 18 but where only one sister lived, as well as an old tavern the church also owned, the parish was in a state of being building- and land- rich yet strapped for resources.

What to do?



The Cottage at Cathedral Square in Belleville, Ill. (Courtesy of The Cathedral of St. Peter)

https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/illinois-parish-transforms-abandoned-factory-senior-community