the Immaculate Conception school housed first through third grades. In 1990 the schools were consolidated further, and all classes were taught downtown. The former Immaculate Conception school was leased to the Iron Mountain school district. Significant upgrades were made to the church in the 1960s, and the exterior was repaired in the 1980s. The church was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1979 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Description This church, similar to Renaissance parish churches in Italy, echoes the architectural traditions of the Italian immigrants who built it. It is a rectangular plan church with a central nave, constructed of random coursed sandstone. The main church has a gable-end pitched roof, with a two-story hipped-roof section at the rear. A striking octagonal bell tower, fashioned after a campanile and topped with a pierced belfry, is also located at the rear of the structure. Unusual timber trusses support a wooden barrel-vaulted ceiling. Stained glass windows, at least three of which were made by the Menominee Stained Glass Works, are set in bricked arched window wells and light the nave. The front facade has two blind arches, flanked by pilasters, framing the central entrance. Shorter side bays on each side are joined to the main facade with curved walls which obscure the gable end of the roof. Two niches hold statues of saints. See also References External links Parish information and history from the Catholic Diocese of Marquette Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette Buildings and structures in Dickinson County, Michigan Italian-American culture in Michigan Roman Catholic churches completed in 1902 Michigan State Historic Sites Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Renaissance Revival architecture in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Dickinson County, Michigan 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States