MILWAUKEE — For over 130 years, the Church of Gesu has stood as a symbol of faith and history on Marquette University’s campus.

Now, the church is getting a long-awaited makeover. It is a $10.1 million renovation designed to restore its original grandeur while updating key features for modern needs. 

Ray Ellingen, Director of Operations and Administration for the church, said the church has not had major updates since the 1960s. 

“Church of Gesu has been looking at the replacement of pews and flooring in the main church for quite a long time,” said Ellingen. “We finally decided it was the time to do it. In addition to doing the pews and floors, we are also going to be replacing the lighting, the sound system and adding in the baptismal font and some ramps to access the alter space. We are repainting the church as well.”

The price tag may seem like a lot, but Ellingen said it’s actually a cost-saving move. 

“We found if we are going to be taking the pews out of the church and going to replacing the flooring, that’s the time to put up scaffolding,” said Ellingen. “We needed to paint the ceiling anyway, so by putting up the scaffolding and doing other projects that are up high—the lighting and the sound, for example—those things can only be done once and only pay for scaffolding once.”

As part of the project, they’re also planning to add security cameras. Ellingen said that will allow the church to stay open longer. 

“We’ve heard from a lot of people that they would just love to be able to drop in and visit the church in the morning or afternoon or evening and right now we can’t do that,” said Ellingen. “So, we hope we can have the church be open a lot more.”

For parishioners like Michael McCormack, the renovation is a moment of renewal.

“It’s a beautiful church, and it hasn’t been renovated in many years,” said McCormack. “The organ was updated a few years ago, but now, they are going to do the pews and the floors and all the paintings.”

The goal is to restore the church to its original neo-gothic style. 

“We’re hoping that the work that we do will be admired by people in the future and folks a hundred years from now will look back and be glad that we did the work that we did,” said Ellingen. 

During the renovation, mass will be held in the lower level of church.