Investigators in Fond du Lac are searching for the cause of a fire which drew first responders from 20 state agencies to a historic Episcopal convent Friday.
The FDLReporter describes some of the building’s history:
The fire swept through the historic convent at 101 E. Division St., a three-story building once known as the Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Nativity. …
For years, the Episcopal sisters at the convent baked altar bread and sent it out to to area churches. According to the “History of the Dioceses,” by A. Parker Curtis. They sent out almost 700,000 loaves annually.
The building was designated a historic landmark by the city council in 1973. The house was abandoned in 2000, and has been sold “more than once” since then. Investigators are working to determine whether the fire was set accidentally or as arson.
And yesterday in Montpelier, Vermont, a crane which had not yet begun to lift granite blocks from the roof of Christ Episcopal Church collapsed onto the church roof.
According to the Times Argus,
Paul Carnahan, a librarian at the Vermont Historical Society, said that the gothic style church was consecrated in 1868. It was designed by J.J. Randall in Rutland, and made of Barre and Berlin granite. It cost more than $30,000 to build, and it was the second episcopal church in town. In the 1930s, according to Carnahan, the parish house was added to the church. He said that the church used to have a sharp steeple, which was removed in 1963 because it was deemed unsafe.
The church reported through its Facebook page yesterday that “the church roof has been damaged, but the structure appears sound.”
There were no reports of injury from either calamity, although the American Red Cross was standing by through Friday night to offer support and aid to firefighters and police officers responding to the Fond du Lac blaze.
Read more about the fire here, and the crane collapse here.
Photo credit: Christ Episcopal Church, Montpelier, VT, via Facebook. Posted by Rosalind Hughes