St. Edmund School could be for sale shortly.
“We’re moving in that direction,” said Rev. Carl Morello of the two-story school that closed nearly a decade ago at 200 S. Oak Park Ave. Morello is the pastor of Ascension and St. Edmund, along with St. Giles and the recently closed St. Catherine-St. Lucy.
“Recently, I put something in our bulletin, we can’t continue to maintain this big structure, though our Migrant Ministry was in there, and our youth ministry was using the gym,” Morello said. “I’m letting the archdiocese know we’re taking the next step.”
According to the book The Archdiocese of Chicago: A Journey of Faith, the school was originally built in 1917 and designed by Henry J. Schlacks, with a 15th century French Gothic façade similar to the Palas de Justice in Rouen, France. Additions were made in 1948 and 1959.
“If you were to look it up online, you’d see a clear resemblance, and that is why it would be such a shame to lose that façade,” Morello said. “We all hope that wouldn’t happen.”
Morello said there is a fair amount of deferred maintenance at the school, which was occupied until a few years ago by The Children’s School, a private K-8 school, when its lease wasn’t renewed. The Migrant Ministry has been using the building since then.
Morello said that it costs roughly $75,000 to keep St. Edmund School operational, including heating in the winter.
“Technically, the property is owned by the archdiocese, (and) my next step is to contact them,” he said. “Then they take it from there. Not that I, or the community, might not have input, (but) the real state office would work with future prospects for what happens with the property.”
In a statement to Wednesday Journal, the Archdiocese of Chicago said, “We are still studying the possibilities of the St. Edmund’s sale. In general, we sell property in the same way other organizations do, using a broker when necessary. In partnership with the parish involved, we always consider the community when choosing a buyer.”
Who or what entity could purchase the building is anybody’s guess.
“That’s the hard part to answer,” Morello said. “It depends on who is out there looking for what. Could it be a community center, or could it be something creative? I’ve seen some of our churches have been turned into beautiful condo buildings. They maintained the outside structure but inside are condos.”
Celine Woznica heads the Migrant Ministry, an interfaith coalition led by Oak Park’s Catholic parishes. She said the ministry has operated out of St. Edmund School for 22 months.
“Migrant Ministry has been pivoting to meet the ever-changing needs of migrants since we began in June 2023 offering showers for the migrants sleeping at the Austin police station,” Woznica said in a statement to Wednesday Journal.
“Although the migrants will still need winter clothes, blankets and toiletries, their priority needs are immigration support, social services, ESL and accompaniment as they navigate life under the current very stressful political environment.”
Woznica added that the ministry is reviewing optimal spaces for its services and are “open to any suggestions.”
She said that since migrants are more hesitant to leave their homes, Migrant Ministry’s numbers have dropped from serving roughly 200 people a day to as little as 60 per day.
In addition to the business aspects of working with the archdiocese to sell the school, there is an emotional component of the sale as well, Morello said.
“It is hard to go through with,” he said, “because the building is so emotionally connected to the history of the parish. I have said to people who are concerned, at St. Catherine-St. Lucy, we had to close the spiritual site.
“We’re not closing your church. I’ve had to focus on that myself from that regard.”
