Eyewitness 1961: Quick coop conversion is a coup for St. Alexis
Share with others:
Some longtime members of St. Alexis Catholic Church in McCandless are known as "coopers." Parish historian Bob Eicher said the name refers to those who 60 years ago attended weekday masses in a converted chicken coop.
In its earliest days, the St. Alexis congregation worshipped on Sundays in what was then the Pine Valley Roller Rink. That structure, now the home of DFW Furniture, still stands in the 9700 block of Perry Highway.
The parish was created in May 1961 on the site of a former farm, and the Rev. Francis Father Rodgers took up his post as the first pastor that June. "His rectory was an old frame house," Post-Gazette reporter William M. Rimmel wrote on July 15. "It was a tough assignment, but Father Rodgers rolled up his sleeves and went to work remodeling the farm house. Then came the job of finding a chapel for daily masses, prayers and other religious needs for the congregation."
The farm property had 11 existing buildings, but a builder in the congregation advised the priest that only one structure -- a chicken coop with a concrete floor -- offered possibilities.
"The next night 50 men appeared at the rectory and began the task of building a chapel out of a section of the chicken coop," the newspaper story said. "And while one crew built, another hauled in church furnishings they had begged from neighboring parishes."
St. Aloysius, in Reserve, provided pews and carpeting, while St. Victor in the Bairdford section of West Deer offered a tabernacle. A tabernacle is the box or cabinet in which consecrated communion hosts are kept.
First Published July 24, 2011 12:00 am
