[Source: Kate Nolan, Arizona Republic] -- The Old Adobe Mission in downtown Scottsdale is closed for the summer until October, marking crucial steps in its $450,000 restoration. The tiny chapel at First Street and Brown Avenue was the first Catholic Church in Scottsdale, built out of 6,000 adobe bricks in 1933 by its original parishioners, the local Mexican and Yaqui communities. Designed by architect Robert Evans to resemble the Mission San Xavier del Bac near Tucson, it later housed the Scottsdale Symphony.The city in 2001 recognized the mission's key role in the community by placing it on the Scottsdale Historic Register, spring-boarding efforts by members of its parish church, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, to restore it. Since then, the mission's restoration committee has stabilized the bell tower, replaced 700 adobe bricks and unearthed the mission's original stained-glass windows, created by early Scottsdale artisan Bernabe Herrara. The windows had been missing for 23 years but were returned after a Phoenix glass craftsman who had been storing them read a newspaper story about the restoration.
The summer hiatus began in an atmosphere of optimism, spurred by two significant discoveries. The church's long-missing pews were found tucked away at a Phoenix church.And the chapel itself was discovered by a new generation of couples choosing to marry there. Two weddings were held this spring, with more on the horizon, according to Sister Alice Ruane, a member of the restoration committee. "We've struggled for five years to take it back to its roots," Ruane said. [Note: To read the full article, click here. To learn more about the effort to restore the structure, click here.]
