Sugar Grove moves closer to getting its own Catholic parish
Catholics in Sugar Grove are getting their own parish - the first new one in the Rockford Diocese in nearly 20 years.
The diocese wants to start construction this fall on a chapel for St. Katherine Drexel parish at Rich Harvest Farms on 20 acres at the intersection of Dugan Road and Prairie Street. The new chapel will be named to honor the memory of the late Katherine Rich.
The Rich family donated 20 of its 1,800 acres, plus unspecified "negotiable securities." The entire gift is worth $5 million, according to diocese officials.
Sugar Grove Village President Sean Michels said he is "very excited" about a new Catholic parish being established in the village.
"I approached the Rockford diocese about a Catholic parish in Sugar Grove eight years ago," Michels said. "The diocese acknowledged that it would be a good location, based on growth projection, but the money wasn't there. Now the Rich family has stepped up to make the project move ahead. Having a religious choice will add to the quality of life in Sugar Grove."
Michels said he met with officials from the diocese and with members of the Rich family two years ago. The location of the 20 acres is just outside the village boundaries but the area is under the auspices of the Sugar Grove planning commission.
Michels said that Sugar Grove has not received any building plans.
The diocese determined in 1987 the Sugar Grove area should have its own parish. The next closest parishes are St. Gall's in Elburn to the north, several in Aurora to the east and St. Paul in Sandwich to the southwest.
The diocese estimates there are 700 families living in the new parish.
There are 105 parishes in the 11 counties of the Rockford Diocese, with 24 of them in Kane County.
The last new parish was Church of the Holy Apostles in McHenry in 1989.
The Catholic Church is not the only denomination planning expansion in Sugar Grove. Immanuel Church of Batavia and Lord of Life of LaFox are part of a group of Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregations studying whether to start a congregation there.
Jerry Rich made a fortune in the 1970s when engineering firm Rich Inc. came up with a computer system that enabled financial information from different sources to be displayed on a single screen for stock market participants. The company later merged with Reuters.
In retirement, Rich designed Rich Harvest Links on the farm, finishing construction in the late 1990s. The private 18-hole course hosts Rich's Kids Golf Foundation, which helps city children learn life skills as they learn the game of golf.
Jerry's father, Anthony, gave the Sugar Grove Library $370,000 in 2007 to help pay for a technology learning center in the new facility it is building. Anthony Rich started Rich Inc.