100th anniversary for Heber Catholic mission's building

Friday, May. 29, 2015

HEBER — One hundred years ago the finishing touches were put on a beautiful building before it opened to the public as the Second Ward for the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Heber.

Almost 50 years later, the building was purchased by the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City and transformed into Saint Lawrence Mission, which on June 14 will celebrate their building’s centennial with an open house.

Because the building has a lot of Gothic features, many people are shocked when they learn that it was constructed as an LDS ward, said Karen Hibl, St. Lawrence Parish secretary.

The building is an historic landmark for Heber City, she said. “You can see the date carved in the foundation. I think it is really important for the community to get together to celebrate one of the original buildings in Heber and it really is something historic. … The diocese bought it in 1967, so in a couple of years we are going to have the 50-year celebration for the Catholics being here in this building.”

The decision to have an open house to commemorate the building’s centennial came from the community itself, Hibl said, adding that the celebration will include a blessing by Father Stan Herba, pastor.

“Then the community will be invited to come inside and hear some explanation about the history of all the parts that the building has,” said Hibl.

When the diocese purchased the building, one of the changes that occurred was the removal of an original stained glass window located on the north side of the building. It was replaced with an image of the Holy Spirit.

The original window, which depicted a sego lily – the Utah state flower – now is housed in another Heber building, Hibl said.

“The other thing that I know that changed that in the ’80s [is that] they put the blue stained glass windows on the east and on the west sides of the church,” she said; the building also was renovated to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“We put and elevator in, and at the time that we did it we also remodeled the restroom, so we can accommodate people with physical limitations. There are a lot of stairs everywhere in this building, so we needed that,” Hibl explained.

The public is invited to the open house.

“It is just a real treasure for Heber City and it’s a beautiful church. We would love to see everyone,” said Hibl, adding that she hopes that longtime Heber residents will show up at the open house and share their stories about the building. “That would be really fun, to hear about how this church was used back then.”

WHAT: Open house

WHERE: St. Lawrence Catholic Church, 100 W Center St., Heber

WHEN: Saturday, June 13, noon – 3 p.m.

Free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.