The closed former home of St. Timothy’s parish in Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood will soon get a new life as a Jewish elementary school.
Joan Dachs Bais Yaakov – Yeshivas Tiferes Tzvi Elementary School bought the property at 6326-6330 North Washtenaw Avenue for $2.95 million, Block Club Chicago reported.
The archdiocese authorized the sale of the combination church-and-school building, rectory and parking lot in 2021 after St. Timothy merged with nearby St. Henry and St. Margaret Mary parishes the year before. Money from the sale will be used for the newly merged parish, known as Holy Child Jesus Parish, which operates out of the St. Mary Margaret campus on Chase Avenue.
St. Timothy Parish opened in 1925 and the school closed in 1993 after merging with seven other Catholic schools in the West Ridge and Rogers Park neighborhoods.
Joan Dachs Bais Yaakov was founded more than 60 years ago and is now the largest Jewish elementary day school in the Midwest. According to the school’s mission statement, it strives to teach children “the values and lifestyle of Orthodox Jewish tradition while providing a strong, comprehensive secular education.”
It is unclear if Joan Dachs Bais Yaakov will move from its current home at 3200 West Peterson Avenue or open an additional campus in the former St. Timothy parish campus.
Less than a year ago, two Chicago-area convents were looking to sell their campuses as their populations dwindled. The Cenacle Sisters hoped to demolish and sell their retreat and conference center at 513 West Fullerton Parkway in Lincoln Park and the Benedictine Sisters wanted to sell part of their campus at 7430 North Ridge Boulevard in West Ridge. Both congregations saw a dwindling and aging population of nuns, so the real estate maneuvers would raise funds to help the groups’ members.
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