These
folks work together
St. Casimir's members
renovate church themselves
JENNIFER OCHSTEIN
Tribune Correspondent
SOUTH BEND -- No
one person takes the credit. But looking at
St. Casimir Catholic Church last fall and
now, you can't deny that the congregation is
a determined group.
New floors, fresh paint, wood restoration
and some elbow grease have brought new life
to St. Casimir church in South Bend, all
because of congregation members who did the
work themselves.
They started last September renovating St.
Casimir because the costs of having a
contractor do the work wouldn't have been
feasible. Estimates put the cost at
$100,000.
They did have to contract some of the work, such as
replacing the church's wood floor with
concrete, some tile work and paint, but they
did the rest themselves, according to Paul
Fujawa, a parishioner at the church.
Doing much of the work themselves saved them
nearly $80,000, they estimate. Fujawa, who
is an engineer and directed the project,
said they spent $19,000 on the project.
The renovation, most of which was completed
in the spring, included tearing out the
church's rotted and termite-damaged wood
floor, repainting pews, painting walls,
placing floor tile and carpet, restoring the
wood floor around the altar, cleaning
stained-glass windows and touching up the
Stations of the Cross paintings.
This summer, the group has been installing
trim and repairing the automatic bell
ringers.
Fujawa said it was important for the
congregation to do the work itself partly
for financial reasons and partly because it
brought them all together.
"We had a core of 10 people who were here on
a regular basis, but some Saturdays we had
up to 30 people," said Ann Marie Sommers, a
parishioner.
People from other parishes from South Bend
and even Goshen and Michigan came to help
out, she said.
Sommers said the seven months of work and
renovation ensure the church will "be here
for a long time to come."
Fujawa said he would've felt like he let the
church down if they hadn't stepped up and
done the work.
"It's always been a beautiful church,"
Fujawa said. "It's nice to see it neat and
clean the way it should be."
Ken Ziolkowski, who along with Sommers grew
up attending St. Casimir, said it's
satisfying to help with the project.
The first meeting to form the parish was
held at the home of Ziolkowski's
great-grandfather.
"It's our church, and it needed our help,"
said Jeanie Ziolkowski.
Ken Ziolkowski helped with the project four
to six hours every Saturday for months,
though he's quick to point out that Fujawa
spent many more hours than he did.
"I don't want a lot of recognition, but, for
me, to look and see this -- that's all I
need," Ken Ziolkowski said.
The only part of the church that still needs
help is the bell tower -- the church's bell
does not toll. But they seem close to
figuring out the problem and said they will
continue to try to make it happen.
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Parishioners have
worked to renovate St.
Casimir Catholic Church
in South Bend.
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Ken and Jeanie
Ziolkowski tend to minor damage
repairs.
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