By Chuck Draper
Local churches or public service non-profits have been given an opportunity to acquire the historic Episcopal Church property at 221 Fourth St. SE.
The Episcopal Diocese wishes to dispose of the property. Before considering sale to a private party the church is giving local organizations until Sept. 29 to make purchase offers.
"This is an exclusive offer to churches, faith-based charities and civic organizations with a public service mission who will preserve the historic character of the building and its historic public charitable mission," the diocese writes.
The offer is temporary, until Sept. 29. "At that time, if we haven't sold the property to any organizations as we hope, we will consider putting this property on the open market which will likely jeopardize its historic character," the diocese continues.
Interested parties must submit a formal written offer, with price and terms, and be prepared to close in 60 days. At this time there is no plan to offer an opportunity for prospective buyers to increase their initial offers, in a further bidding round.
Offers may be mailed to the Episcopal Center, Attn: Renee Carlson, 1730 Clifton Place, Suite 201, Minneapolis, MN, 55403. Organizations wanting more information should contact Stephen Schaitberger at the diocese, 800-596-3839, ext. 325, or 218-330-1402.
The Sioux quartzite church was built between 1892 and 1895. A complementing parish hall was added in 1923.
Architecture is Gothic Revival and is in the style of "Bishop Whipple Churches" built in Minnesota in the late 1800s. It is the oldest existing church building in Pipestone and one of only two quartzite stone churches remaining here.
Originally, a fairly large congregation, membership dwindled over the years. In recent years the church has alternated between vacancy and usage by some small church congregations and civic organizations.
