Fraternite Notre Dame in McHenry County yet to start construction projects two years after legal win

Two years after a group of nuns won the right in court to build a brewery, boarding school and other buildings on their unincorporated Marengo campus, work on any of the projects apparently has not progressed.

The Fraternite Notre Dame nuns won a 2015 federal lawsuit filed against the McHenry County Board in the spring of 2020, which gave them the go-ahead on their plan that also included building a winery and gift shop on the religious organization’s 95-acre area at 10002 Harmony Hill Road near Marengo.

McHenry County officials, however, said the fraternite has not taken out any construction permits to date. And although plans called for the gift shop being able to sell wine and beer made on the premises and host a wine tasting, no county or state liquor licenses have been acquired, according to Illinois’ liquor license website.

“There’s been nothing,” said Adam Wallen, the county’s planning and development director. “It’s just been quiet. We have the same questions.”

The County Board in September 2015 rejected requests from the organization to allow for the building of a barn for making wine and beer, a boarding school, a nursing home and a gift shop.

Despite numerous comments from board members showing their support for the work the group had done, the requests were rejected because the area was zoned for agricultural uses, as per the county’s 2030 plan, according to meeting minutes from the county.

A federal lawsuit with the goal of overturning that decision followed and was successful more than four years later. At the time, the organization argued the county’s decision discriminated against it on religious grounds.

Plans for the boarding school have called for it to be three stories with a maximum enrollment of 80 students. The maximum size would sit at 28,000 square feet. The gift shop can be up to 5,000 square feet.

In response to requests for comments, the order directed the Northwest Herald to its lawyer at the time of the lawsuit, Jim Geoly, who now works with the Archdiocese of Chicago. Neither Geoly nor the order could be reached for further comment on the status of the projects.

Jaki Berggren, president and CEO of the economic and marketing organization Naturally McHenry County, which was formerly Visit McHenry County, said if the projects were to go up and had the potential to draw people in, the organization would promote it.

Being just a stone’s throw away from downtown Marengo, as well as near a variety of other attractions, it could help other businesses in the area, Berggren said, adding that she’s unaware of anything else in the county that would be similar.

“It would be a diversification of what’s in the county,” she said. “It would be a completely new thing.”

Marengo Mayor John Koziol said he had no comment about the development’s potential prospects.

McHenry County officials dating back to 2020 speculated about whether the coronavirus pandemic, which in effect shut down the nation just days after the order won its lawsuit, could have been a reason why the project hadn’t yet moved forward. Construction, however, was one of the few industries that continued to work, as the state deemed it “essential.”

This time around, construction costs may be a factor. Wallen said that although permit requests actually are up 10% since last year, inspections are down.

This means that although people are requesting permission to do work, they are not actually following through, primarily because of labor and material shortages, Wallen said.

“People have been at home … but everything is going up [in price],” Wallen said.

In the 2020 ruling, there was no set timeline for when the group was required to build.

Founded in 1977 by French Bishop Jean Marie, the Shrine of the Ecce Homo, the Marengo chapter of the Fraternite Notre Dame, describes itself as a “Traditional Catholic Religious Order, made of bishops, priests, deacons, religious friars, missionary or contemplative religious nuns,” according to its website. The order is not recognized by the Vatican.

The organization obtained the land in 2005 and originally was granted permission to build a chapel, convent, monastery and bakery.

To pair with the county’s rejection in 2015, more than 800 people signed a petition opposing the request for expansion.