Immaculate Conception, Celina

Address: 229 W. Anthony St., Celina, Ohio, 45822 Phone: (419) 586-6648 Website

Mass Times: Sat. 18:30; Sun. 07:30, 09:00, 12:00; Mon. 07:30; Tue. 07:30;Wed. 07:30; Thurs. 07:30; Fri. 07:30, 09:00 (During school year); Vigil of Holy Day: 18:30; Holy Day: 07:30, 09:00, 18:30;

Parish Founded: 1865 Church Built: 1903

Architect: Anton DeCurtins, Lima Builder: John Burkhart of Kenton Architectural Style: Romanesque Revival

History: On August 31, 1865, the cornerstone was laid for the first church. This church was built of brick and stood on the corner of Anthony and Walnut Streets. It stood in front of the present church and faced south. It was dedicated on Dec. 8, 1865, and the parish officially became Immaculate Conception parish. In 1879 a small parochial school was built and the Precious Blood Sisters took charge of the school. This school grew rapidly and only ten years later, in 1889, a new Immaculate Conception Grade School opened to 220 students.

The parish also continued to grow. In 1900 a building committee was formed to erect a new church. This grand Romanesque style church was completed in 1903. Stained glass windows were donated, as were the communion railings, stations, organ and church bells. At this time the parish numbered about 170 families. In 1918 a new school was opened. The new school had not only eight grades but also three years of high school. In 1928, the high school became a four year high school. Financial problems made it impossible to maintain the high school,

and the Class of 1972 was the last class to graduate from Immaculate Conception High School.

Today the Immaculate Conception Parish numbers about 1700 families. Immaculate Conception Parish has the only parochial school in Mercer County and one of only three in the Deanery. This K-6 school at this time has 247 students.

The church itself is a large brick building constructed in the shape of a Greek cross; it was designed by Andrew DeCurtins of Lima and built under the supervision of John Burkhart of Kenton. A Romanesque Revival structure erected in 1903, it is centered on a large bronze dome. Worshipers may enter the building through its eastern end; the facade is pierced by three large doorways and a massive rose window. Capping the facade are two square towers; each one includes an octagonal belfry and is topped with a smaller bronze dome. Inside, the church is heavily decorated; many of the walls feature paintings, and the altar is distinctly Romanesque in its style. The entire building rests on a stone foundation with a basement.

Architectural historians have grouped the Precious Blood-related churches of far western Ohio into four different generations: the first, composed primarily of small log buildings from the first years of settlement until 1865; the second, composed of moderately sized brick churches built between 1865 and 1885; the third, composed mostly of large High Gothic Revival churches with massive towers constructed from 1885 to 1905; and the fourth, composed of churches built between 1905 and 1925 in a wide range of styles. Immaculate Conception's place at the end of the third generation is significant: its Romanesque Revival style is atypical of that period and much more common in the fourth generation that would soon arise, putting it in somewhat of a transitional place between the third and fourth generations.