A playground will be built at the site where the former St. Stephen rectory is being demolished on Reed Street in Oil City near St. Stephen School. The Oil City Catholic Community Pastoral Planning Committee said in a letter earlier this year to Erie Catholic Diocese Bishop Lawrence Persico that the building had become an unnecessary expense and the land it occupies could be used by the Catholic Community and especially St. Stephen School in a more beneficial way. The letter also noted that the rectory was abandoned and “has become a monetary and physical drain.” The offices for St. Joseph Parish, which encompasses St. Joseph and St. Stephen churches, had been housed at the rectory but were moved awhile ago to St. Joseph. The former St. Benedictine Sisters convent on Reed Street had been remodeled in the 1970s to become the new rectory for St. Stephen Church. (By Kara O’Neil)
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