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?* 5 \\'-- , ~-.->\*r?\ '•'.'.'AW.'.'.V.V.v v .'.'.'.'.'.'.'A ««—. Surprising Saints DeSoles' Ixisefealt seosoo fofted *his~ spring as the yowg Sawits reached the Secfion 5 Ooss < semifimrf*; Moomy routed Mercy in the Class M softboll quort;erf*na& Page* $-9. Dunn's domain - olotof hel^frtxrvfriemfe, one pe«oft conhaveopoweifyltopQaorvseeiTt- ingly {fltfoao6le problems, Page 16. Bonnie Trafatot/Couifer-Joiimai Father Jamas Cakan remains optimistic that his plan to and Mnjp games at Corpus ChristiiwiH succeed. Veterans offer $^M^far Redeemer parcel : By Richard A. Kiley Diocesan officials are lukewarm about a $40,00Qoffer by the Rochester Chapter of the Vietnam^ Veterans of America to purchase the 1.6 acre parcel that encompasses Holy Redeem- er Church. The chapter's board voted unanimously last Tuesday night, May 31, to purchase the land- mark church and related buildings at the cor- ner of Rochester's Hudson and Clifford avenues. J The purchase offer — which is free of con- tingencies — came a week before the June 10 deadline the diocese set for the Landmark So- ciety of Western New York to place an earlier verbal offer in writing. The society had pub- licly stated that it is working on a plan to de- velop part of the church complex, but it has yet to formalize that offer. Father John hA. Mulligan, director of the Di- ocesan Division of Urban Services,.said that although he arid other diocesan and parish officials believe that the land is worth more than what the Vietnam veterans have offered, the purchase offer will be given consideration. *?We all believe that $40,000 is inadequate, but that docs not mean we will not respond tqltenl^saidjiather Mulligan, who noted that the school biiiidihg alone was valued at more Qfficials of the Rochester City School Dis- trict Jiave expressed an interest in using the forinerlioly Redeemer School building for a , 30^pupj]- early-childhood center. - \The Landmark Society has until June 10th to respond to the letter, so the whole thing won't come together until then;* said Father Mulligan, who added that several Rochester- area religious congregations have continued to show interest in the church building. \We have heard nothing from-(the Land- mark Society) since we issued the: letter;' he noted. ^ . The priest said the increasing interest in the,, parcel may influence how diocesan and1 paj^ '.; . ish officials view the veterans' proposal. \• \We may ask them tomaybe reconsider their offer;' the priest said. ' Father William B. Leone, pastor of Holy Redeemer/St. Francis Xavier Parish, is away on retreat and could not be reached for com- ment on the purchase offer. The veterans plan to use the parcel — which includes the church, rectory, school building and heating plant — for a neighborhood trau- ma center, according to Harry Caulfield, a Rochester-area developer and chairman of long-range planning for the Rochester chap- ter of the Vietnam Veterans of America. Caulfield said the church would house professionals— trained to deal with the after- effects of battle.in Vietnam — who would use their skills to help community residents suffer- ing from other traumas. The veterans group also announced a plan to use the church rectory fora thrift store and the school for recreational and educational fa- cilities for Rochester-area young people. Caulfield said the veterans' group has out- grown their current headquarters at 459 South Ave. in Rochester, and needs the additional room for expansion. The group would keep its South Avenue facility. He added that the veterans are looking to move into the church \as soon as possible\ and that they will work with the Croup 14621 neighborhood organization as they do so. \tikie are granted title of the whole prop- erty, we'll take the ball where the diocese leaves it!' Caulfield said. \We want to start the heal- ing process as soon as possible.\ The local Vietnam Veterans* chapter wrote to Bishop Matthew H. Clark last April, ask- ing to meet with him to discuss the parcel. Caulfield said the diocese misunderstood the organization's intention to purchase the prop- erty, as evidenced by a letter in which Bishop Clark stated that the diocese would not donate the property to the veterans. The church has been vacant since 1985 when the parish was merged with nearby St. Fran- cis XavierParish. -% The combined parish announced last fall that it planned todemolish the church because it could not afford the $10,000 a year in insur- ance and other charges involved in maintain- ing the structure. Demolition plans were stalled May 9, however, when the church was desig- nated a city landmark. As a result of that designation, no changes can be made to the church without approval of the city's Preser- vation Board. * By Lee Strong Corpus Christi Parish has failed in its efforts to meet a June 5 deadline for ending bingo as a means of supporting Corpus Christi School. As a result, the parish has indefinitely extend- ed the deadline for collecting pledges. By June 5, the parish had received; only $14,530 of the $100,000 goal established last month by a plan to replace bingo proceeds in the school's $250,000 annual budget. Father James Callan, administrator of the parish, set the June 5 deadline as part of a pro- posal he madeJtb a joint parish-school bingo conrunittee on April 23. The proposal called for the parish to find 1,000 people willing to do- nate $100 to the school each year/ Despite the failure to raise the money by the deadline, Father Callan remains optimistic that the plan will eventually succeed, ending the school's financial reliance on bingo. \I think it's just slow coming in. I don't think we gave people enough notice!' Father Callan said. \I expect the rest to come in the next few days!' \We were hoping to do it by June 5, but the agreement was bingo would ,end when the money comes in!' father Callan hofeci^ ^ \A1though\bing6' Has not^ffiaaBy ended^ Phil Malone, chairman of the bingo commit- tee and a bingo worker, noted that bingo rev- enue has already declined as a result of publicity about the proposal and misleading - media reports that bingo had been eliminated. \People came in last night (Sunday, June 5) saying they saw on television that there was no more bingo, hut they stopped by to see any- way!' Malone reported. Turnout for the June 5 game was down, causing a decline in the amount of money raised, he said. \It'll get worse after this morning's paper!' Malone said, referring to an article in the June 6 edition of the Democrat and Chronicle. The article reported that Father -Callan had said bingo had ended. \I said (bingo) would end if the $100,000 was raised\ Father Callan said in an effort to clar- ify the matter. \Our commitment is to end bin- go when we get the $100,000, not before!' Nevertheless, Malone was pessimistic about the success of upcoming games. \We're going to lose half our. customers!' he predicted. Meanwhile, Father Callan is endeavoring to draw more attention to the fund drive. He speculated that the plan had failed because the original deadline was'too soon after the an- nouncement of the proposal. June '5 had been. chosen as the deadline because it was the Feast of Corpus Christi and the date on which the parish celebrated its centennial. The priest anticipated that more money would be coming in as a result of letters sent last week to parish supporters, urging them to contribute to the fund. On Monday, June 6, Continued on Page 3 ex Around?fhe Diocese. Page 2 Calendar % Pa|e 7 Classifieds Page 11 Columnists Pages 12-13 Echo Page 10 Editorial & Opinion; Page 14 Features Page 16 Local News Page 3 Sports Pages 8-9 World & Nation Pages 4-5 _ L „ 744704173013IIII2 23 1 W&
