The weekly Sunday visit to the Church of the Gesu is going to look different for Marquette students and community members as Mass moves to the lower church to allow for renovations in the main upper church.
The Marquette community will have to wait about a year to see the finished space as Mass will move into the lower church starting Dec. 7 and is scheduled to move back into the upper church on Dec. 1, 2025, when renovations are complete. Mass times will remain the same as currently scheduled.
“We want to have the church open from the 7 a.m. Mass through the end of the 5 p.m. Mass every day,” Simone said. “Providing a quiet place of prayer in a city is actually a gift to people of all faiths.”
The renovations are budgeted for $10.1 million and look to add new pieces and restore an original feel to the church. Everything from the floor, pews, lighting, sound system and paint on the walls and ceiling will receive upgrades. A new baptismal font and ambry for holy oils will be added along with greater accessibility to the altar with ramps.
Gesu’s newly installed pastor, Rev. Michael Simone, S.J., shared how he believes the space will provide a spiritual home for all.
“I think the beauty of the space will speak to the holiness of the space,” Simone said. “It will help people adopt an attitude of prayer.”
Simone said the long-term goal is to send the message that the parish cares for the space by making it a bright, inviting place for people to come and worship. He stressed the importance of a place like Gesu as a significant gift to the urban community of Milwaukee.
Part of what will make the church available for the majority of the day is the updated fire alarm system and security cameras providing greater safety.
“I’m excited about adding security cameras that will be tied into MUPD, so we can have people feel safe in church no matter what,” Ray Ellingen, Director of Operations and Administration, said.
Material renovation
The plan to renovate the church began in the fall of 2021 when the parish formed a committee to discuss which elements required overhaul and repair.
Ellingen said the pews and floor tiles stood out as items that were both out of style and required an upgrade.
“One of the problems we found with the current [vinyl] tiles was that over time they started cupping, where instead of being flat, they curl up on the edges, and it looks like a little cup,” Ellingen said. “It will be porcelain tile now, which will be set and should last a really long time.”
Simone said the pews have been coming apart, catching people’s sweaters and giving them splinters. Additionally, the current pews were installed in the 1960s, which doesn’t fit the era of style the church was built in, the 1890s.
“If we’re going to replace them, we’re going to replace them with something that looks like it fits there,” Ellingen said. “We have two of the original pews [from the original church] still here. We have detailed photos and designs of them to match it as best we can so that they have that feel of being original.”
Additionally, the color of the pews will be a lighter brown to match the current color of the choir balcony and wood doors as opposed to the dark brown of the current pews.
To follow the theme of color, the walls and ceiling will be enhanced with a new painted color scheme. Ellingen said there will be some subtle floral pattern to mimic the imagery of the first Jesuit Church of the Gesu in Rome, Italy.
In addition, a field of light blue will be added to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary and invoke visions of Heaven.
Sacramental renovation
The tabernacle, where consecrated hosts are stored, is currently located to the right of the main altar in the side altar known as the St. Joseph Altar. With the renovation, the tabernacle will be moved to its original home in Gesu behind the main altar under the crucifix.
A new baptismal font will be located in the back of the church near the entry instead of to the left of the main altar. Simone said it will be better situated in the back of church for two reasons.
“It’s a better symbol, because baptism is what you do when you enter a church. The baptismal font water will be the water people bless themselves with as a reminder of their baptism,” Simone said. “Secondly, when we have baptisms, everybody can just gather there, right around the font, because the last few rows instead of pews will be chairs and can be arranged as a seating area for family and friends.”
The new ambry containing holy oils for sacraments will be located next to the baptismal font.
Other renovations
The lighting system will be improved to include hanging pendant lights similar to the original electric lights as well as small accent lights. The lights will be set up with dimmable settings to differentiate brightness.
Simone said the sound system is “appalling” and will be improved since old churches like Gesu were built before electronic amplification meaning it isn’t designed for acoustics.
“With all the renovation, Mass might not look different, but it’s going to sound a lot better,” Simone said.
Following the sound improvement, Ellingen said parishioners will have the option to link hearing aids to the new T-coil system to have audio from the microphone sent directly into their hearing aids.
Additional support beams will be placed in the lower church to support ramps that will allow access to the altar in the upper church.
The present
Simone said the lower church will be able to fit about 450 people, meaning larger Masses such as Christmas and Easter might be a tight fit.
“The big one that might be problematic is the 4 p.m. [Mass] on Christmas Eve, because that one sometimes gets upwards of 1,200 people,” Simone said. “If that day arrives and we get 1,200 people that want to be in the lower church, I think we’ll try to use the Law School atrium space as an alternative Mass site and have two Masses going.”
Simone said the choir will be situated in the back of the lower church between the two entryways. The back of the church provides the option to connect an organ to an electrical socket too.
“Our organist, Dean, refurbishes old organs as a hobby. He has organs, plural. He is going to lend one to the parish for the time that we’re downstairs and try to reproduce that big cathedral sound,” Simone said.
The future
To get a better idea of what the church will look like, you can view a video fly through simulation on Gesu’s parish website. Renovation images and updates can also be found on the website.
“The reason we have Gesu now is because the people back then [who originally renovated the church] thought it was important enough to support it, pay for it and be involved,” Ellingen said. “We enjoy the benefits of what other people did, and now it’s our turn to do so for this church moving forward.”
This story was written by Gabriel Mannion. He can be reached at [email protected].
