Video: Storm damages mission church roof

WATSON - A well-known historical site is temporarily closed due to damage it suffered in a thunderstorm early Tuesday morning.
Strong winds with the storm tipped a tree on to the roof of the chapel at the Lac qui Parle Mission on the south end of Lac qui Parle Lake near the Churchill Dam. The tree damaged the roof, but the chapel otherwise did not suffer serious damage. “That big tree came down on the roof but not a window pane was so much as cracked,’’ said June Lynne, director of the Chippewa County Historical Society.
The storm also toppled other trees on the mission site. Lynne said the chapel and mission site will remain closed until the storm damage can be repaired and debris removed.
The mission site and restored chapel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The chapel was restored in the 1940s as part of a Works Progress Administration project in the region.
The mission site is owned by the Minnesota Historical Society, which is responsible for the repair and cleanup. The Chippewa County Historical Society manages the site as part of an agreement with the state.