Controversy stirs over bar’s location in former sanctuary of closed Frederick chapel

FREDERICK — The Wye Oak Tavern at Visitation Frederick, the new hotel in Frederick, has made quite a stir since its opening on Dec. 19 and not because it is run by Frederick’s famous chefs, brothers Bryan and Michael Voltaggio.

Located in the former chapel of the long-closed Visitation Academy, the restaurant’s decision to locate the bar in the chapel’s former sanctuary between the altar and the Communion rail has met strong opposition from former students at the school as well as from the community, with a petition for its removal collecting more than 3,000 names.

“They could have put the bar anywhere,” said Elyssa Koren, a 2000 graduate of the former boarding school and leader of the petition. “They chose really the most sacred spot to place the bar. You don’t have to be Catholic to find this offensive. There is something very jarring about the placement they chose.”

The bar, Koren said, “has the look and feel of a functioning Catholic church,” as many of the original components, including the marble altar, the angel statues, the communion rails and the stained-glass windows from Germany, remain in place.

“It is not really respectful of the 150 years of Mass carried out in that space,” Koren said.

The Sisters of Charity founded St. John’s Benevolent Female Free School in 1824. The Sisters of the Visitation replaced the Sisters of Charity in 1846 and added a monastery, which closed in 2005 when the Vatican had the remaining Visitation Sisters transferred to a monastery in Rockville, Va. The school closed in 2016.

“This is very personal. I know firsthand what Visitation meant to the order and to my aunts,” said Virginia Leary-Majda, whose three aunts not only attended Visitation, but took their vows and became Visitations Sisters with one becoming Mother Marguerite Therese Leary, a strong supporter of preserving historic buildings.

“You go to chapel by invitation. My aunts taught us it was a very special place,” said Leary, who lives in Los Angeles. “There are things you just don’t do.”

James P. O’Hare, of O2 Holdings/Lafayette Financial, the developers of the Visitation Hotel, noted that the property was purchased for $2.75 million. The Archdiocese of Baltimore was never involved in the sale.

The chapel was deconsecrated – meaning its sacred character, including the relics in the altar and the tabernacle were removed – allowing the building to be used for other purposes. Many of the chapel’s other religious items, he said, including crucifixes and the Stations of the Cross, were donated to local churches. Two statues, one of Mary, the other of Joseph, that were once near the altar are now featured in the hotel’s courtyard garden much to Koren’s dismay, as they have too many “years of history attached to them” to be left out in the elements, she said. A working organ remains in the choir loft.

“Because we wanted to be respectful of the prior use of the chapel, we went well beyond just deconsecration,” O’Hare said in an email.  “And we very purposely have constructed the bar to be separate from the historic altar.”

O’Hare noted that he, himself, is Catholic and attended Catholic schools through high school in the Washington D.C. area.

“It was very important to me personally that our design honors and respects the nuns who have lived and taught, and the girls who studied at Visitation,” O’Hare wrote. ”I believe that we have accomplished that.”

A lawyer, Koren realizes the owners of Wye Oak Tavern can “use the space as they see fit.” She hopes, however, that they take notice of the petition and reach out to her for a meeting.

“There is so much history,” Koren said. “This is one egregious mistake. Correct it.”

“No one is saying get rid of the restaurant,” Leary said. “Relocate the bar.”

In its first 10 days, business at the hotel and restaurant has been “very strong,” O’Hare said.

“Our guests have expressed no concerns about the use of the former chapel. In fact, people love hearing the stories that make up the history of Visitation,” O’Hare said.

Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org

This story was updated at 4:45 p.m. to indicate that the Archdiocese of Baltimore was not involved in the sale of the property.

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