Diocese to determine fate of Q.C. church

The fate of one of Queen Creek's oldest churches is far from certain.

The old adobe Our Lady of Guadalupe church has survived nearly 60 years, but how much longer it stands near the northwest corner of Ocotillo and Ellsworth roads depends on the outcome of an evaluation by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, which owns the building and the land.

Jim Dwyer, director of public information for the diocese, said it is considering a number of options for the building, including restoring it or demolishing it.

"We're pretty far away from that right now (making a decision)," he said. "It looks pretty much like we're just in the evaluation stage, and all options are going to be considered."

Work on Our Lady of Guadalupe started in the late 1940s and ended in 1951. Lacking a place to worship, the church was built by the largely Mexican Catholic community, which included laborers from the Bracero Program - a guest-worker agreement the United States government made with Mexico to deal with labor shortages during World War II.

The tightknit community worshipped wherever it could, including in old barracks donated by then Williams Air Force Base. They later received land from Leo Ellsworth, a prominent farmer.

Lacking money, the community members banded together, volunteering their time, resources and expertise to complete the church, said Gloria Chavez, who gathered with other church members at the San Tan Historical Society on a recent Sunday to reminisce and recount the history of the church.

"There wasn't a lot of us, but everybody worked together," she said.

The church was left empty in the late 1980s when construction finished on its modern replacement - a church across Ocotillo Road that's also called Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The prospect of the church's demolition is upsetting to many of the original members. Some say they've heard the church may be razed but don't know how to influence the final decision.

"It's out of our hands," said church member Gloria Rodriguez.

Ron Dailey, parish administrator, said he hoped to use the building as a base of operations for the church's food program for the poor, but he said he hasn't yet approached the diocese about it.

"We have to get their (the diocese's) permission," he said. "I can't be the one to say, 'yes, that's going to happen.'"

Gordon Brown, vice president of the San Tan Historical Society, said Our Lady of Guadalupe is Queen Creek's second-oldest church after the 88-year-old Community Church of Rittenhouse. It was built in 1921 just south of the railroad tracks on Ellsworth Road.

The church, now know as Desert Mountain Bible Fellowship, was relocated in the mid 1930s to its current spot at Mandarin Drive and Hunt Highway.

Brown, who has been piecing together the history of Our Lady of Guadalupe, said some of its founders descended from families living in the area when it still belonged to Mexico.

He too is concerned about its fate. Brown points to plans to widen that part of Ocotillo Road and worries the church may stand in the way.

"I think that longer term it's definitely not out of jeopardy," he said.