Photo by Deb Gau The former St. Clotilde Catholic Church building in Green Valley was recently sold to new owners, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church announced this week. The Rev. Steve Verhelst said the building and land had been put up for sale in January.

GREEN VALLEY — The Church of St. Clotilde in Green Valley hasn’t been used for worship for a few years. But church members still hope the building and property can be put to a new use, the Rev. Steve Verhelst said.

On Wednesday, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Marshall posted on social media that a sale had been finalized for the St. Clotilde church building and property in Green Valley.

“We put it up for sale this past January,” Verhelst said.

Jordan Handeland confirmed Thursday that his company SW MN Properties purchased the St. Clotilde property. However, Handeland said he did not yet have comment on what would be done with the property.

Records of a church building at St. Clotilde’s location near the corner of Minnesota Highway 23 and Lyon County Road 8 date back to 1917, Verhelst said. Going by the date on its cornerstone, the current church building was constructed in 1959.Verhelst said there was a building addition with a lift that was constructed in 2011.

St. Clotilde has been partnered with different area Catholic churches over its history, Verhelst said. It was connected with St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Cottonwood. Over time, St. Clotilde and St. Mary’s were also joined into a bigger area faith community, with Holy Redeemer in Marshall, St. Mary’s in Tracy and St. Michael’s in Milroy.

Mass stopped being held at St. Clotilde about four years ago, Verhelst said. He said parishioners and parish leadership met to discern what to do with the church property, and they decided to try and sell the building.

“There is the sadness that comes with the finality of a church building no longer being a church building,” Verhelst said.

At the same time, church members hoped it could serve a new purpose in Green Valley, he said.

In a post on Holy Redeemer’s Facebook page, Verhelst said the proceeds from the sale, after expenses including realtor and closing costs, would go to the St. Clotilde Cemetery operating fund. The St. Clotilde Cemetery Committee also decided to bring the church bell, a concrete statue of St. Clotilde, and the church cornerstone to be placed at the cemetery.

Items of a religious nature were removed from the building.

“Many of the items have found new homes,” Verhelst said Thursday.