PILSEN — Someone broke into the recently deconsecrated St. Adalbert Catholic Church in Pilsen, but Archdiocese officials aren’t sure if anything was stolen.
Anne Maselli, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Chicago, confirmed a break-in was reported late last month at the church, 1650 W. 17th St. Two frames that did not have artwork “are not where they were previously stored in the church,” Maselli said in an email.
Parish staff are still trying to determine if the frames were moved or taken, Maselli said.
It is not immediately clear how the person or persons who broke in accessed the building.
Archdiocese staff has boarded up windows and will continue to monitor the church property, Maselli said.
The break-in was not reported to Chicago Police, police and Maselli confirmed.
Earlier this month, Block Club was first to report that a developer was under contract to buy the church property for $4 million. City Pads plans to close the deal in the fall, company officials said.
The pending sale follows a years-long battle Mexican and Polish parishioners have waged in an effort to save the St. Adalbert Church from being closed and sold. In 2016, the archdiocese first announced it would close the church as they moved to consolidate six Pilsen churches into three.
No housing will be built in the former sanctuary building, the company vowed. But the developer does aim to build co-living apartments in a new building on the 2.1-acre site just east of the convent and will rehab existing buildings — which include the rectory and convent — to make way for studio, one-bedroom and “family-sized apartments.”
St. Adalbert Church is located in the heart of Pilsen, a changing neighborhood on the city’s Southwest Side. The parish was founded in 1874 by Polish immigrants and the current church building was built in 1912.
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