The smallish gazebo near St. Therese Church in Southgate with the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary seems nondescript at first.
But it’s not.
To a committee of St. Therese parishioners, it’s a prominent part of the church’s nearly 100-year history. The church’s Centennial Committee is placing a historical marker at the trolley stop, one of a series of activities planned for the Aug. 15, 2027 celebration.
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St. Therese, located at 11 Temple Place at the corner of Electric Avenue, is named after St. Therese of Lisieux (born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin), a Carmelite nun who was canonized in 1925. She’s better known as “The Little Flower of Jesus.”
“We are actually an official diocesan shrine of the Little Flower of St. Therese, the only one that I know of in the Tristate area,” said Fr. Michael Grady, the church’s pastor who will be formally installed Aug. 16. “The closest one is near Chicago.”
The trolley stop was the turnaround point of a two-mile route from Newport to Southgate. Committee member Scott Freundoff, who grew up down the street from the church, said people often made their way to Evergreen Cemetery to honor loved ones buried there – an all-day event that often included a picnic.
“It was referred (to as the) Shrine of the Little Flower by the streetcar drivers,” Freundoff said. “ … That way, people can come up through Newport because they moved both the Newport cemeteries to this location.”
According to sainttherese.ws, St. Therese Parish was canonically established on Aug. 15, 1927, under the leadership of Bishop Francis W. Howard; it was formed from portions of the parishes of St. Thomas (Fort Thomas), St. Vincent de Paul (Clifton), and St. Francis de Sales (Cote Brilliante).
The first property acquired for the parish was formerly part of the Wiedemann Brewery. It included a building known as the Old Heidelberg, which was remodeled to serve as both a place of worship and a three-room school.
“The very beginnings of the building that the Diocese (of Covington) purchased to become the church was actually a speakeasy, right?,” committee member Jennifer Arrowood said. “And it had been seized, I guess, by the government in the Prohibition Era and shut down.
“And so as the Diocese of Covington was looking to create a parish that would serve Southgate, South Newport, parts of Fort Thomas, that building and the surrounding grounds looked very appealing.”
The marker will be placed next spring; committee member Jason Lanham said it won’t cost the city anything.
“The city has been gracious enough to give us the ability to put the sign up,” he said. “They’re going to install the marker to make sure it’s done correctly.”
Street repairs to cost a little more
It’s going to cost around $200,000 more than expected to repair Tracy Lane in Southgate.
City Engineer Jim Shumate told City Council at Wednesday’s meeting the extra money would be for entirely new pavement instead of an overlay.
“The pavement’s in pretty rough shape,” Shumate said.
The work on Tracy is part of a $1.479 million project for repairs on Valley View Drive, Heather Hill Drive and Blossom Lane.
Mayor Jim Hamberg said instead of increasing a bond issue for the project, the city could take $130,000 from the general fund and receive the rest from an expected $70,000 from Sanitation District No. 1.
In other action, council member Mark Messmer said the city’s block party July 18 “was a disaster” because rain and heat kept people away. Instead of a hoped-for $10,000-$15,000, the city “barely took in $1,500.”
“The beer consumption was way down,” Messmer said.
Also, council member Aileen Okura designated homes at 118 Electric Ave. and 2407 Joyce Ave. as winners of the Green Thumb Award for July.
The next meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 19 at the city building, 122 Electric Ave.
