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By Kent Larsen
Versaille, Pennsylvania Branch's Building Being Renovated
VERSAILLES, PENNSYLVANIA -- The Versaille branch of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints is currently meeting in the former St. Dennis
School, which is now undergoing major renovations. The lower floor of the
school will hold the chapel, including pews recycled from a chapel in New
Jersey, and classrooms and will be wheelchair-accessible. The renovation
will also add a baptismal font on the lower floor. Until March, when the
work is expected to be completed, the main floor of the building will house
the classrooms, meeting rooms and the chapel. Because the building was a
school, the classrooms already were in place so not too much work was
required there before it could be used.
An article in the Connellsville Daily Courier looks at the changes being
made to the building, and at the beliefs and practices of the LDS Church. It
also looks at the history of the Church in the Pittsburgh area. According to
the article, members of the Church left the Pittsburgh area after the Saints
moved from Kirtland, Ohio west to Missouri, and then Nauvoo. But by 1847
five branches of the Church were again operating around Pittsburgh. An early
family in the Pittsburgh area was that of U.S. Senator Orrin G. Hatch. His
father, Jesse Hatch, brought his family to Pittsburgh in 1923 to help build
the local church. The first LDS building in the area was purchased in 1929
on Wallingford Street in Oakland.
Latter-Day Saints Renovating in Versailles
Connellsville PA Daily Courier 6Oct01 B1
By Carol Waterloo Frazier: Daily News Religion Editor
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