Last Hours for a Chicago Church
By Stephanie Smith | Online Only | Jan. 13, 2009
The Archdiocese of Chicago applied for a demolition permit for 104-year-old St. Boniface in December 2008.
Credit: Landmarks Illinois
After nearly two decades at the center of a preservation struggle, it looks like St. Boniface Catholic Church in Chicago's West Town neighborhood will come down.
Last month, the Archdiocese of Chicago filed for a demolition permit for the 104-year-old church, which city officials have said is unsafe. However, because the church is considered historic, the city requires a 90-day delay before granting the permit.
The archdiocese tried twice to lure developers to renovate the church, but no one came forward, says Martin Jablonski, its real estate advisor. "This organization is very committed to preservation and restoration," he said, adding that it has spent $25 million to restore four other historic churches within a half-mile radius of St. Boniface.
Nearby St. Gelasius Church also faced demolition four years ago, but it was saved when the city stepped in and granted the building landmark status. A small religious order took over the church and restored it.
Preservationists have hoped that St. Boniface could be saved in a similar way. But given the building's deteriorating condition, Jim Peters, president of Chicago-based Landmarks Illinois, believes that even landmarking the Italianate building won't be enough to save it. "It's now in structurally poor condition," he says. "If you landmark it, and then it falls down, what have you accomplished?"
Landmarks Illinois placed the church, designed by architect Henry Schlacks, on its most endangered list in 1999, fearing the archidiocese would raze the church and sell the land to a developer. As the church deteriorated, Peters says, preservationists approached the archdiocese about finding new uses for the building but were met with reluctance.
"You need some cooperation of the property owner," Peters says. "It's a lesson of demolition by neglect."
In 2003 and again last year, the archdiocese, in conjunction with the city, hosted a design competition for the possible reuse of the church in hopes that the ideas would inspire a developer to come forward and take on the project. No economically feasible proposals were found.
Peters points out that in recent years, the archdiocese has made greater efforts to protect its significant structures by keeping them in use as they consolidate congregations. The problem, he says, is not that the church is unsympathetic to preservation, but that St. Boniface was closed before such policies were in place. "If it [happened] today, I think there would have been a greater effort to keep a congregation in the building."
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Comments
Submitted by Nate at: April 20, 2009
There has been quite a lot of community awareness and support for saving this church. It is currently on an extended demo delay and the archdiocese and city are working on a landswap deal. Check out http://www.saintbonifaceinfo.com for much much more information!
Submitted by UGLY HUMAN at: February 6, 2009
THIS SHOULD BE SAVED,, BUT I DONT THINK ITS GUNNA HAPPEN IN TIME...
Submitted by Anon at: January 15, 2009
This article is incorrect in stating that St. Gelasius has been restored. Nothing could be further from the truth. That religious order in question still needs a great deal of help and support for the restoration to proceeed.