Chapel under construction at Trinity Heights Queen of Peace

By RENEE WEBB
Content and Design Coordinator
Those making a day trip up to Trinity Heights Queen of Peace in Sioux City, will find an array of religious statues, replicas of Marian shrines and much more.

In fact, right now anyone can check out progress on the construction of a new 145-seat chapel at Trinity Heights, one of two diocesan shrines.

“This is a dream come true for a lot of us who have been affiliated with Trinity Heights for many years,” said Terry Hegarty, executive director of Trinity Heights that is one of two diocesan shrines in the Diocese of Sioux City. “The excitement is unbelievable.”

Founded by Father Harry Cooper with the priest’s brother Beanie Cooper serving as director for many years, Hegarty said he can only imagine the two looking down and smiling.

Hegarty pointed out that it was about a year ago when they announced their intention to build a chapel and the fundraising kicked into gear. By late last fall, they had met the threshold of 70% of the funds pledged/raised before any construction began and initial groundwork began.

“The site was cleared and excavated last year,” said Hegarty, who noted that Fenton Construction gave them a great base to start with for the construction. “This spring we had the permit to put the foundation in.” 

It was early June when the walls started to go up. The walls made of Styrofoam forms filled with rebar and cement were placed while the architectural design elements were being finalized. 

“Masons are now putting stone on the exterior of the chapel,” he noted, adding that weather-permitting, rafters will go up soon. “Getting the roof up needs to happen before we can start on things inside like electrical.”
Modeled after an old English chapel, it will have stone walls on both the interior and exterior with reclaimed oak covering the rafters on the ceiling.

Hegarty mentioned they are currently exploring options to possibly repurpose and some items from now closed churches based on if style would match the chapel’s design. For instance, they plan to look at lighting that came from Corpus Christi Church in Fort Dodge to see if the fixtures would be a fit.

“The thing that will really set it apart will be the full glass on the East end of the chapel looking at the statue of Mary,” he said, noting the chapel will combine an old look with new.

One thing that isn’t necessarily set in stone is the timeline for construction.

“A lot of it will depend on weather and the other equation is contractors because it’s been a difficult year for them trying to do their jobs outside,” he said. “There’s been a lot of rain as everyone knows so projects have been delayed and now with all of the flooding we’ve had, there will be a big demand for some of those guys to help those individuals as well.”
The goal, stressed Hegarty, is to have the chapel dedicated by Easter of 2025. 

Hegarty acknowledged that some people scratch their heads and ask why they are building a new chapel in light of pastoral planning.

“We are building a chapel here because of who and what we are,” he said, noting they are not a church where families have been affiliated with all their lives. “We are a diocesan shrine that people come to from all over the United States – a 500-mile radius is regular. When they come here, a lot of times their wish is to go to Mass and receive the sacraments while they are here and making this pilgrimage here.”

Presently Trinity Heights has a small 30-seat chapel and a meeting room that is sometimes used for Mass or prayer services on special occasions.

At a time when there are struggles in the church and churches are closing, Hegarty said they wanted to be a beacon.

The priests who celebrate Mass in the chapel or hear confessions there will vary. He mentioned that they have many bus tours and sometimes they bring a priest. In some cases, if a diocesan school is visiting they may reach out to a retired priest to say Mass and they do have retired priests who celebrate weekday Mass at the shrine three days a week – Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11:30 a.m. plus a first Friday Mass and first Saturday at 9 a.m.

For the current Divine Mercy Chapel plans are to continue holding adoration there on Fridays.

Hegarty estimated about 80,000 people visit the shrine annually.

While the new chapel is certainly the focus of the shrine’s latest project, the executive director mentioned they are going to take it a step further by finishing off the exterior with a courtyard made of pavers. The courtyard will house a “trinity fountain” made up of three equal sides with a fountain coming from each side with another coming up out of the middle along with a circular retaining wall that will provide seating.

The cost of the chapel and courtyard is estimated to be about $2 million. They are still seeking contributions for this project. 

“We’ve been very blessed so many have come forward and offered to support what we are doing,” said Hegarty. “We think now that people can see it is really happening when they come to visit, more people will want to be a part of this. Our donors have been wonderful.” 
 
He mentioned they discerned putting up a basic, white wooden church but in the end they wanted a chapel that would be around well into the future and something that would be “a wonderful tribute to Jesus and Mary – that’s what this whole place is.”

To make a contribution, go to trinityheights.com.