SAINT CLAIR - The grotto at St. Clare of Assisi Roman Catholic Church, 250 E. Hancock St., a tribute to the closed parishes in the borough, will be dedicated at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The grotto is across the street from the church in the location of the former Saint Clair Catholic Elementary School.
The school, which was built in 1914, was demolished in 2011 to provide closer parking for those who can't walk far due to health reasons and for a green space for prayer.
Sandy Mitchell, administrative assistant for the parish, said Wednesday that there will be a short prayer service during which the Most Rev. John O. Barres, bishop of the Diocese of Allentown, will bless the new grotto.
Mitchell said that following the service, there will be a free picnic for parishioners at the Saint Clair Fish & Game Club.
According to newspaper archives, Monsignor William F. Glosser, pastor at St. Clare of Assisi, said that since the creation of St. Clare of Assisi in 2008, he was understanding of the fact that it's the combination of five area Roman Catholic churches and he planned to build a prayer space as a tribute to all the churches that make up the new parish.
In 2008, the Diocese of Allentown closed 32 parishes in Schuylkill County as part of a diocese-wide restructuring plan. The five Roman Catholic churches in Saint Clair - Immaculate Conception, St. Mary, St. Casimir, Ss. Peter and Paul and St. Boniface - merged to form St. Clare of Assisi in the former St. Mary building.
The plan for the grotto was to use stone left from the old school to build a wall and the plan is to place the steeple crosses from the closed churches, a bronze plaque commemorating each of those churches, the Fatima shrine from the former St. Casimir Church and outdoor statuary from the other churches and benches in the grotto.
Mitchell said that the grotto was finished in the past week with paving, while landscaping was completed in early spring.