New name carries on building’s past

• The Steeple Center

Choosing a new name will help the city of Rosemount give the former St. Joseph Catholic Church a new identity as it opens for new uses.

Talk about it

The former St. Joseph Church has a new name that reflects its old purpose.

The Rosemount City Council voted Tuesday to approve the Rosemount Steeple Center as the new name for the building, which the city bought when the church moved to a new location on Biscayne Avenue.

“I think (council members) all sort of were looking for a name that took advantage of the architectural structure of the building and what people know the building for,” said parks and recreation director Dan Schultz.

Schultz called the new name a first step in establishing a new identity for the facility, which is scheduled to open for public use around July 1, once renovation work is done inside the former church.

The council also approved a list of fees for using the facility, and Schultz said work will begin now on creating a logo and marketing materials for the facility.

“It’s going to be a unique space and we want to make sure people are aware of it,” Schultz said. “We want it to be known for its own uniqueness and its own decor.

The city has long talked about the building now known as the Steeple Center as an arts and culture center that could someday be the site of plays, art exhibits and more. That is still part of the plan for the long term, and groups like the Rosemount Area Arts Council are working on programming for the space. Many of the names suggested for the facility described it as an arts or culture center, but Schultz said there will be an opportunity to put the buildings to other uses as arts programming picks up steam.

“There’s potential there for having wedding receptions,” Schultz said. “We look at the former church sanctuary space as being a lot like our banquet room at the community center minus the catering facility.”

However it’s used, Schultz said he’s happy to have an identity for the building take shape. Even if that new identity is sometimes hard to remember.

“It was funny, this morning in a staff meeting I referred to it as the former church and someone corrected me,” Shultz said.

Tags: local government, rosemount, community