STEEPLE SQUARE

St. Mary’s Catholic parish anchored Dubuque’s downtown for 100+ years. During the farm crisis and factory closings in the early 1980’s, the neighborhoods surrounding the church sunk into economic decline. Jobs and people left and St. Mary’s ultimately closed its doors in 2010. After the campus was threatened with demolition, community leaders united with the aim to both save and repurpose the site – home to a massive church, a former elementary school, and a former rectory.

In 2016, the nonprofit Steeple Square launched a capital campaign and hired Gronen to lead campus revitalization to repurpose the buildings and grounds into a collaborative, inclusive center providing a hub for community support, while preserving its historic fabric. The campus is serving as an agent for positive change and a catalyst for restoring lives.

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​Campus restoration included the iconic 200+ ft steeple that was clad in copper to ensure it will last another 100 years. The former school was repurposed into market rate and transitional housing for women and children; the former rectory was repurposed into a childcare center, and the church now serves as a community event center and the lower level serves as a classroom space for job training and local food programming.