The Catholic Time: Trusses fall, but Mosinee parishioners’ faith stands

MOSINEE – Sometime between 8 and 10 p.m. on Feb. 14 the recently erected trusses for the St. Paul Parish’s new church – which was expected to be completed by next fall – collapsed into a heap of twisted steel. “People are dealing with it pretty well,” said Father Don Przybylski, who has led the Catholic parish in this paper mill community along the Wisconsin River between Stevens Point and Wausau for the last 10 years. “They know that sometimes things happen like this with building projects; they’re rolling with the punches.”

Though the trusses have fallen, the cause of their collapse is still up in the air. Father Przybylski said significant gusts of wind were recorded at the Central Wisconsin Airport just outside of Mosinee that night, so the collapse might be due to severe weather. If inclement weather caused the collapse, St. St. Paul’s church building project would be covered through the diocese’s Catholic Mutual Group insurance plan, according to Sondra Rieder, diocesan finance officer. But if it was caused by faulty construction, then the contractor’s own insurance would kick in.

Rieder said a Catholic Mutual adjustor was assigned to the incident the day after it happened. “An engineer is also going to do a more thorough examination of the site,” she added. “Until that happens, we won’t be able to determine what caused the collapse.”

Travis Simpson, director of the diocesan Buildings and Grounds Office, has been guiding St. Paul’s through its building project from the start and said he expects the insurance matter to work itself out.

“The new trusses have already been ordered,” Simpson said. “This is probably going to set them back a month or more, but it will go forward and hopefully they’ll be happy in their new church. It’s a bump in the carpet; that’s about it.” Father Przybylski said he hopes Simpson is right. The new church has been a long time coming for St. Paul’s. Parishioners were already debating whether to build or remodel the old structure when he arrived at the parish a decade ago. The first fundraiser netted $1.7 million, and an anonymous donor kicked in another $1 million.

The “We Belong to Christ” capital campaign gave St. Paul’s 90 percent of the funds needed to complete the project – a requirement for diocesan building projects before they can break ground – and Bishop Callahan gave the go-ahead for the project last September.

St. Paul’s new church will seat 640 people with overflow seating for about 200 more and will incorporate many pieces of the old church, Father Przybylski said.
The Catholic Times