Across Tacoma, residents have joined together to save beloved Holy Rosary Church. Parts of the church are in dangerous condition following a decade of changing leadership and deferred maintenance. Historic Tacoma’s Watch List (historictacoma.org) lists the church as “threatened”, its most critical rating. The Archdiocese of Seattle has issued a preliminary estimate of $10 million to fully restore the building.
The fate of Holy Rosary took a positive step forward today with the launch of a fundraising website by a community-driven group dedicated to saving the endangered church. The group, called “Save Tacoma’s Landmark Church”, is led by a coalition of parishioners and community members who want to preserve one of Tacoma’s crowning glories. Their website is savetacomaslandmarkchurch.com.
Said board member Jonathan Carp, “we’ve been in communication with the Chancery officials, and we are looking forward to working with the parish leadership and the Archdiocese to save Holy Rosary. We believe that having such a beautiful building adorning Tacoma matters to all Tacomans, not just Catholics”.
The organization has open meetings every two weeks, and the website contains testimonials from Tacoma residents, including many who are not current parishioners of Holy Rosary. The fact that many of its members are not parishioners is seen as an advantage, rather than a detriment for the group. “We hope establishing this effort sends a clear message to the people of Holy Rosary Parish that the wider community stands ready to help save their church”, said Carp.
Save Tacoma’s Landmark Church is a Not For Profit Washington Corporation and a registered State charity. They are in the process of obtaining a 501(c3) designation from the IRS.