Former St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, Leyden Avenue and 138th Street, Riverdale, Chicago, IL : 無料・フリー素材/写真
Former St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, Leyden Avenue and 138th Street, Riverdale, Chicago, IL / w_lemay
| ライセンス | クリエイティブ・コモンズ 表示-継承 2.1 |
|---|---|
| 説明 | Built in 1956-1957, this Renaissance Revival-style building was built to serve as St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, which was founded in 1886. The building is part of a complex that includes a school, built in 1917, and a rectory, built in 1905, and a convent, built in the early 20th Century. The complex was expanded in the mid-20th Century, adding additional wings to the school, as well as adding the present sanctuary. The main church building stands at the southern end of the complex, facing the intersection of Leyden Avenue and 138th Street, and is attached to the rear of the large interior multi-purpose hall within the earlier school building to the north. To the north of the school, flanking a parking lot, is the rectory, while the convent stands to the east of the school, flanked to the south and east by a series of one-story mid-20th Century additions to the school. The church is situated at the southern border of the city of Chicago, which follows 138th Street from Indiana Avenue in Riverdale to the Indiana border in Hegewisch. The parish covered an area that included portions of the villages of Riverdale and Dolton, as well as portions of the neighborhoods on the city of Chicago’s far south side. The parish served a predominantly white working-class population, drawn to the area by economic opportunities provided by various industrial operations during the late 19th Century and early 20th Century.The church is most famous for its association with Pope Leo XIV, whom ascended to the papacy in May 2025. Born as Robert Francis Prevost, the church is where the pope attended mass during his childhood, served as an altar server and choir member, and is where he graduated from the parochial elementary school in 1969. The pope grew up in a modest house on 141st Place in the adjacent suburb of Dolton, a half-mile (750 meters) south of the church, in an area which was growing and thriving at the time due to suburban development and abundant factory jobs. However, by the 1980s, the church began to decline as demographics shifted in the surrounding area, and manufacturing employment went into decline. In 2011, the parish was closed due to declining attendance, and merged with Queen of Apostles Parish in Dolton, which itself closed in 2019, and was merged with two parishes in nearby South Holland.The sanctuary building is clad in red brick with a front-gable roof, limestone trim, metal-frame stained glass windows, a tower on the west side of the building with a domed metal roof and open belfry with arched openings, and a large front bay clad in limestone with an arched front pediment and vaulted roof, a recessed window with a statue of St. Mary above the doorway, and a crucifix atop the roof. To the rear of the sanctuary is the former parochial school, originally built as a combined church and school building, which is clad in red brick and features a large multi-purpose hall at the south end with arched windows, flanked by one-story wings with raised basements, and a two-story north wing with stone trim, a main entrance with engaged columns and a form reminiscent of gables above roman arched entrance bays, and a gable parapet. The former rectory is situated at the northernmost portion of the complex, and is clad in red brick with a hipped roof, an older two-story section with quoins and limestone trim, and a mid-20th Century southern addition with a hipped roof and decorative patterned brickwork. To the east of the school is a two-story convent, clad in red brick with a projected entrance bay on the west facade featuring a gable parapet, a one-story solarium at the south end of the building, and a one-story bay window on the east facade. The school additions from the mid-20th Century are clad in buff brick with metal-frame windows, metal canopies at the entrance doors, and doors featuring circular glass panels.The complex is presently vacant, and is showing signs of deterioration, including overgrown vegetation, a large hole in the roof, and heavy deterioration of portions of the roof atop the school. However, the building is a key anchor at an intersection that formerly served as a small neighborhood business district, and due to its association with the pope, is receiving significant attention from local Catholics and preservation organizations. |
| 撮影日 | 2024-10-08 13:30:07 |
| 撮影者 | w_lemay , Chicago, IL, United States |
| タグ | |
| 撮影地 | Thornton Township, Illinois, United States 地図 |