Our Lady of Lourdes (Bettendorf)
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Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church located in Bettendorf, Iowa. The parish is located at 1506 Brown Street in Bettendorf, and is located near Interstate 74. Our Lady of Lourdes is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Davenport.
[edit] History
Our Lady of Lourdes traces its history back to 1902. A number of families living in Gibertville, as Bettendorf was known then, found that they were having difficulty reaching St. Joseph's Parish in Davenport, Iowa, which was the nearest parish at the time. The families petitioned the Bishop of Davenport to send a priest to the Gilbertville area to say Sunday Mass.
At first Mass was held in the Siebengartner home. The parish began making plans to build a church building, which was completed on December 8, 1903. In February of 1919 the site of the Siebengartner home then became the site of the first Our Lady of Lourdes School. The Sisters of Humility taught at the school, which had 67 students the first year.
In 1928 the parish exchanged land on the south side of Brown Street for the property on the North Side. The parish moved the church building across the street to the newly acquired land, and was also expanded. This building served as the parish church until 1956, when services were moved to the basement of the school. The former church building served as a parish hall until it was demolished in 1961.
Father H. J. Toher began work to construct a new parish church, rectory, and offices. These new structures, which continue to serve today were completed in 1963. Bishop Ralph L. Hayes dedicated the new buildings on May 30, 1963. Later a bell tower was constructed to house the bell from the original church structure. In 1997 the church building was expanded with the addition of a gathering space at the rear of the church, along with a Eucharistic Chapel.
