‘Back to home’: Parishioners, preschoolers return to St. Ann after August fire
The Bell Room is a hub of the preschool building at Waynesburg’s St. Ann Catholic Church, serving as a meeting room and a place for play.
The gleaming white walls show no sign of the toil and generosity it took to get back there.
The Bell Room was the part of the Waynesburg church most badly damaged in a suspected arson over Labor Day weekend that led to parishioners and preschoolers fanning out to other nearby churches while the church buildings were being repaired.
The Rev. J. Francis Frazer recalled being awoken by alarms from the fire, which began shortly before midnight Aug 30.
“Who would think that something like that was going to happen?” said Frazer, the senior parochial vicar of the St. Matthias Parish, which includes St. Ann. “No one would … That was such a shock, to know that there’s flames coming out of the window of your building.”
Jesse Patterson, 37, was charged with starting the fire, one of two he allegedly set in Waynesburg that weekend.
With St. Ann unable to hold services, the other three Greene County churches in the parish stepped up. The congregation stayed together, going to other churches on a regular rotation.
Unfortunate as it was, the fire may wind up furthering the goal of strengthening the ties between the four churches of the parish, which only dates back to 2019, Frazer said.
“We’re trying to make an overall parish community,” he said. “Maybe that did some good for it, because people tend to be territorial, and so they had to cross up.”
The main church area, which suffered only smoke damage, was the first to welcome back the faithful. The walls were repainted, covering up some of the smoke that couldn’t be removed.
Some hymnals were specially treated to eliminate smoke damage; others had to be replaced. Several Stations of the Cross were damaged when they were being moved for cleaning. Three or four still need to be put back together, Frazer said.
Even in imperfect condition, the church received a warm response when parishioners returned three months later.
“We had the first Masses here Thanksgiving weekend, and that was a homecoming,” Frazer said. “They really were very happy to come back here, and everything’s working out pretty good.”
In the preschool, the walls had to be redone in some of the rooms closest to the fire, which took on water and heat damage. The Bell Room, where the fire is believed to have been set, was “completely destroyed,” Frazer said.
Professional companies handled most of the teardown and restoration, with insurance covering the costs. Whatever insurance couldn’t cover, the community provided.
Parishioners came in and helped put together bookcases and cabinets. And they made sure the preschool would be fully stocked, filling the church rectory with toys and other items.
“We had this whole house full of boxes,” Frazer said. “For a while, it was like, ‘You can’t live in here.'”
After extensive work, the preschool reopened a month ago. In the meantime, one of the neighboring churches had donated space.
But the kids were eager to return to their old playground, and the outside yard volunteers helped clean up last week.
“It wasn’t home, so they were very glad to come back to home — the teachers and the students,” Frazer said.
More work still needs to be done.
In the preschool building, Frazer noted the future homes of doors that are still on back order. And the church is still working on reopening the soup kitchen that operated before the fire.
The church was getting help Thursday from teens from New Jersey on an annual mission trip, who were repainting walls and stair bannisters.
“We’re really glad we’re able to help, especially after the incident that happened,” said Lily McGrail, 15, of Cranford, N.J.
The church has come a long way back since the Sunday morning hours after the fire, when people expecting to attend that morning Mass were met by Frazer telling them “there’s nothing here.”
“That was a shock and all, but now that we’re back, it’s pretty normal,” he said. “We’re here for a Holy Week Easter. People are happy.”
Frazer has seen the rebuilding efforts going on since that first morning: the destruction of immediate aftermath of the fire; the stripped-down version after the fire inspectors had left; and the incremental stages he’d see on the way to the kitchen.
If places like the Bell Room aren’t 100% identical to how they looked in August, they’re still in a state where the people who consider them home can pick up where they left off.
“The furniture that they brought back is almost the same as they had in there,” Frazer said. “We didn’t know we could get something so similar, but we did.”