(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – The last Mass is scheduled for May 19 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in the Uptown neighborhood on the North Side.
Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Uptown has had quite a history.
The current church was built in 1916 but in 1929, when the city decided to widen Ashland Avenue, all 10-thousand tons of the church moved across the street and rotated 90-degrees.
The church merged a couple of years ago with St. Mary of the Lake parish, but Masses continued to be celebrated at both sites.
Katarina Garcia is president of the Our Lady of Lourdes Preservation Society, which wants to spare the church building. They would like to have it declared a landmark and bought and turned into a holy mission.
“In the long run, it's our church. It’s a special place, so most of us will be there at the mass. But afterwards, we're gonna stay in front of the church to show that we don't want to close.”
The archdiocese says that besides financial issues, there just aren’t enough people attending Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes to justify keeping it open.
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