The Jesse and Erin Experience: Saints Center...

In 1910 All Saints Catholic church was constructed in the center of Stuart, Iowa, my home town. On May 19th, 1979 my parents were married in that church. My father and his siblings were baptized, had their first communions, and their confirmations there. My brother and I were baptized and had our first communions there, but in 1995 an arsonist set fire to this church and burnt it down. I was confirmed in the interim church that All Saints used until the new church was constructed outside of town. For the last 15yrs a small group of people fought for the shell that was left of the old church. They raised money and never gave up the thought of rebuilding it. Of course it would never be the same, but it is such a beautiful building and I'm so glad they've decided to fix it up for the community to use. It's now Stuart's Cultural Saints Center. They've made a digital museum experience that is dedicated to educating the public about different types of religion and religious tolerance. I was most impressed by that aspect since it was a religious hate crime the ruined the original structure. Thankfully the building was mainly constructed of stone and brick. The old Cathedral domes were gone and the beautiful stain glass windows were shot out to help fight the blaze, but the basic stone structure was still in tact. The Saints Center is now a nondenominational space that can be rented out for any occasion, as I said in a previous post we held the luncheon after grandpa's burial there. The new modern touches with the old world charm of the stone make for a beautiful location. My parents were married here and as a young child I remember staring up at those beautifully painted dome ceilings and daydreaming of being married there one day too, but after the fire I thought it would never happen. Now who knows though. I doubt we will get married there, but maybe we could have our reception there. We're not really formal people, but we do like food and parties.

Here are some pictures of the church as it was and some that I took during my tour. Remember it's still in the process of being remodeled.

The church as it was originally built.

The main alter of the church.

One of the beautiful stain glass windows.

A picture of the fire. The whole town turned out to help fight the fire. I remember walking outside our house in the country and seeing the smoke and flames shooting up in the sky.

After the fire the old church sat like this boarded up and fenced off for years.

The Saint's Center as it stands today. This is an opposite side view from

the original picture posted above.

View from the front doors.

A view of where the main alter (pictured above) would have stood.

Some of the original pieces have been left in their burnt condition as part of the

museum experience.

Dave & Chels checking out the digital museum experience & two of the original stain glass windows that have been restored.

This was once the choir loft. I never went up there as a child, but I remember hearing lovely singing voices coming from that balcony. Now it's being used as a space where they can control the sound system and lights for concerts, weddings, or even the high school prom which was

held there this year.

The large main replacement dome. It's not as beautiful as the old elegantly painted dome, but it's still breath taking looking up at the height.

One of the stations of the cross statues. It's only been partial restored to show just how bad the damage from the fire was.

The third of the original windows to be repaired and put back in it's home. We were told that all of the original windows were saved and are being repaired 1 by 1 to be put back in their original homes as soon as they are finished.

My brother looking out the circular window on the front of the building.

The original stained glass is pictured above.

A view from the old choir balcony into the main hall. The High school Prom was held here recently and so was a concert, the space seated 400 guests for the concert.