Historical Sandwich church finds new home

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The Opening Ceremony of St. Paul Apostle Catholic Church, 340 W. Arnold Rd., Sandwich, will be conducted at noon Saturday, Nov. 12. An open house will follow until 3 p.m. Everyone is invited to the event. The first mass at the church will be at 5 p.m. that day. The church was moved from it's original Eddy Street location in October, 2010. The church now has new additions, improvements, and interior restorations done by contractors who are parishioners or local area residents.

Updated: December 11, 2011 8:10AM

SANDWICH — The oldest continually used church building in DeKalb County, St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, will be reopened following its restoration, with a ceremony at noon Saturday.

The public is invited to the event at the church’s new location at 340 W. Arnold Road in Sandwich. An open house and tours of the church will be given until 3 p.m.

The first Mass at the refurbished church, originally constructed in 1858, will be at 5 p.m. Saturday.

The church originally stood on the northeast corner of Eddy and First streets. The building and properties were purchased by Catholics from the church’s Presbyterian congregation in 1910. Because the Presbyterians took their bell with them when they sold the church, the steeple of the church was removed.

The building faced south at the time of the sale, but the new owners rotated the church to have the front doors facing west. According to church history, there was a large horse stable across First Street to the south, and the smell entering the church hall was unpleasant.

A wing was on one side of the main building when St. Paul the Apostle Parish was officially established in 1910. For the first 15 years, priests attended the Sandwich church from either Plano or Somonauk, with the first resident pastor coming in 1925. He lived at the Sandwich Hotel, at Main And Center streets, until the rectory was built north of the church in 1927.

In 100 years as a parish, there have been 18 priests, 14 of them resident priests.

A brick parish center was built at 340 W. Arnold Road in 1976 on land the church bought in 1959. It has been used for large gatherings and other church functions.

In 2010, the old rectory on North Eddy Street was demolished following a fire in the structure on Oct. 13, 2009.

The old church was moved from Eddy Street, north on Main Street and west on Arnold Road in October 2010. The church is now connected to the parish center for fellowship space, is linked to parish offices, has become a consolidated campus, and offers a large black-topped parking lot.

Special features of the newly renovated building are the refinished pews from the original 1858 church, new kneelers, new stairs to the choir loft (replacing those that were very narrow and steep), and new heating and air-conditioning units.

The bell tower lid, which formerly opened to ring the bell, is now the wooden piece above the chandelier. The windows on either side of the front doors are from the old sacristy (rooms behind the sanctuary), and the confession screen is made from the original front doors.

The carpet pattern was chosen to draw the eye to the sanctuary and the altar, and the ceiling color was picked to draw one’s imagination and attention to heaven, church officials said.

Windows are from the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rockford, and hand-carved Stations of the Cross are from Italy.

The steeple, topped with a golden cross, will broadcast computer-generated bell sounds with its speakers.

Nearly one-third of the current population of Sandwich identifies itself as Catholic, according to the present pastor, Rev. Andrew C. Hougan.