MINNEOTA — St. Edward Catholic Church in Minneota is undergoing an array of repairs and renovations that are almost finished.

“There are a number of things that are currently in process,” said Rev. Todd Petersen, who has been with the church since 2020. “Currently, we have some plaster repairs and cracks and a larger spot that needed some major repairs and then the painting and the refinishing of the pews and new kneelers because the kneeler pads were decayed to such a point that they needed to be replaced.”

In addition, new flooring will be installed and some of the sanctuary furniture will be replaced, including a new stand for the tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.

Both the stand and panels in the lectern, according to Petersen, will be made of Mankato limestone stone, which will match the current altar. There will also be new presider and deacon chairs as well.

The total cost of all the repairs and renovations comes to be about $600,000. There were other projects for the $1.2 million campaign also including replacing the roofs, repair of windows, and a doing a lot landscaping work. The planning for all the work began 14 years ago and the campaign drive started seven years ago.

The church has around 800 parishioners, and Petersen said without their giving, this project would never have occurred. He said he is amazed and grateful to all those that have contributed to the campaign.

“It shows me that they have a love of the church and a love of their faith and they want to have a beautiful structure that we can gather in and worship and pray,” he said. “Some of the funds also went for the school that they support. They are very supportive of that and through the capital campaign, they’re demonstrating that time and again how important it is to them. It pleases me so that they take it so seriously.”

Petersen is also “extremely pleased” with the contractor’s work. Even though all of the repairs and renovations are not yet done, Petersen says the process has gone smoothly.

The next project to work on is an addition of a basement but Petersen says that is still a while out and the financial campaign for it would not start for at least a year maybe longer.

The current structure of the church was built in 1914.