St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Addition & Renovation

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St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Portage has always had to find ways to keep up with its growing parish.

After a recent facilities study, the church embarked on its latest renovation. Upgrades included constructing a new centrally accessible entrance, adding gathering space, increasing accessibility to the facilities and adding a kitchen and fellowship hall.

Crews also did a complete renovation of the nave, sacristy and sanctuary — all while maintaining the look and feel of the historic church.

Kraemer Brothers was the general contractor on the project. Work began in June 2021 and was completed the following June.

“The history of the church and its iconic presence in the downtown area of Portage made it a unique project,” said Father Gary Krahenbuhl, pastor at the church. “It has been home to the Catholic community of Portage since 1859 when the church was dedicated. While there have been several interior modifications and renovations of the church, the footprint of the church has been unchanged since 1886.”

Krahenbuhl said there were a number of challenges with the project, given the age of the church. One of the biggest, he said, was “preserving the integrity of the building and honoring the nostalgic heart of the congregation, and at the same time modifying it to meet current theology of the church, the changing needs of the congregation and current building codes.”

“So, both structurally and pastorally,” he added, “there were many challenges to preserve both the building and the spirit of the congregation.”