One of Tower’s oldest buildings may become a centerpiece of the city’s new harbor front development efforts.

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church was built in 1889, and still stands on the spot where it was erected over 120 years ago. But plans are underway to move the church from its spot on North Second Street to a location somewhere along the city’s historic harbor and turn the building into an arts and cultural center.

A group of local residents, headed by the church’s only remaining member, Mary Batinich, has formed a non-profit corporation to spearhead the project. The group is working with the Episcopal Church of Minnesota, which now owns the building, to get the ownership transferred to the new non-profit group.

“This would be a wonderful place for entertainment,” said Tower Mayor Steve Abrahamson, who said there are two potential building sites by the harbor. One would be on the western edge of the harbor, where the city’s welcome sign is located. Another possible site would be in the mini-park area. Both sites would be large enough to site the building, but not large enough to house other commercial development like housing or a hotel. Other sites are also being considered.

Plans call for moving the church and placing it on a new foundation. Eventually a new wing would be added which would house meeting rooms and a kitchen.

The church itself would be renamed as St. Mary’s Hall. The Episcopal Church would reserve the right to use the building for church services, if desired. The building and wing will be rechristened as the Lake Vermilion Cultural Center.

Batinich sees the center as a community arts and meeting space.

“This will be a big community asset when it is completed,” she said.

“We can have lectures, concerts, weddings, youth events, senior events, music lessons and even movies,” she said. The building could also be used as auditorium space for the new charter school.

The building would be managed by the volunteer board. Founding members are Batinich, MaryBeth Williams Reller, Tom Sersha, Linda Haugen and Norene Butalla.

Once the group’s non-profit status is finalized, Batinich said, the Episcopal Church has indicated they will gift the building to the group. This process, which means the church will be secularized, opens up the building for multiple uses.

In March, the group will be presenting their plans for the church to the Tower City Council, which would need to approve a move to land in the harbor area.

St. Mary’s Church

The church features beautiful stained glass windows and an architectural curved front with a vaulted ceiling that is reminiscent of a ship. There are 17 stained glass windows, some of which are one-of-a-kind and include craftsmanship that cannot be reproduced with current stained glass methods.

“We have been told these windows are rare and precious,” Batinich said.

St. Mary’s started its life in Tower when the small city boasted a bustling population of 3,000. Within a year the city’s population had doubled to 6,000, but by 1892 the mining boom was over and the population had started to drop. By 1898, Tower’s population had dropped to 1,400, and the small congregation, which had never grown larger than about 22 families, started a downward slide.

The congregation ebbed and flowed over the years, and the church mostly was used for services in the summer months. Most of the members of St. Mary’s lived in Ely, where they have another church building where they worship. Since they could no longer maintain the building, the ownership was transferred to the Episcopal Church of Minnesota, which will still maintain ownership of the church’s historical papers and religious furnishings and other artifacts.

Fundraising

Raising funds for this ambitious project will be a multi-year effort. The first phase of the project has included stabilizing the church building, and getting it ready to be moved from its current location. Batinich estimates it will cost around $40,000 to raise the building and move it to a new location. The second phase of the project will involve raising money for the new wing. The entire project is estimated to cost $350,000 to $400,000. The group has met with many local carpenters, electricians and others who have expressed interested in helping restore the unique building.

Last summer the church hosted a Midsummer Concert, which included a catered dinner on the coach car, a picnic at the church, a silent auction, and a concert featuring both local talent and professional musicians from the Twin Cities, who all volunteered their time and talents.

This year’s Midsummers Concert will be held on Saturday, June 16 and while the coach car dinner is already sold out, there still is plenty of room at the church picnic and seats are available in the church hall for the concert. This year’s concert will feature many of the same performers as last year, along with a group of 15 teachers from Sweden who are visiting Minnesota this summer. The teachers will be staying at Co-Z Sisters, and will be meeting with local educators during their visit as well as singing during the concert.

To help raise funds for the project, the group is recruiting sponsors for each of the 17 stained glass windows. Donors are being invited to sponsor a window at a cost of $1,000. Three windows are already spoken for, Batinich said.

The rights to sponsor the three main stained glass windows will be auctioned off at a higher price during the concert. Batinich said they are hoping people will group together to bid for the honor of having their names permanently attached to these works of art. The three main windows feature a lily, a rose, and a pomegranate. The lily, Batinich said, signifies the annunciation, the rose signifies Mary, the Rose of Sharon, and the pomegranate most likely signifies the Root of Jesse, the ancestor of Christ. There will be other opportunities for sponsoring parts of the project.

The group is currently recruiting both children and adults interested in performing in the concert. The adult chorus will sing a selection of Broadway classics. The youth chorus will be named the “Belles of St. Mary’s.” The two singing groups will be directed by MaryBeth Reller, and anyone interested in participating can call her at 753-3585.

A May pole will be erected on St. Mary’s grounds so that the Swedish teachers can teach the locals how to dance around a May pole as part of the fundraiser.  Alex Batinich and friends will do their best to erect a proper May pole but he would like help.  He can be reached at malexbat@gmail.com.

Tickets for the event (picnic and concert at $25 per ticket) can be reserved by contacting Mary Batinich at malexbat@gmail.com or by mail at 2424 Birch Point Road, Tower, MN 55790.