The Resurrection Project: St. Vitus Catholic Church - Chicago, IL
*United States | Posted: 06/15/2005
The Resurrection Project Headquarters Formerly the St. Vitus Catholic Church Chicago, IL
PROJECT DETAILS
Project Name: Centro Familiar Guadalupano
Historic Name: St. Vitus Catholic Church
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Architect: Kallai and Molitor
Construction Date: Church (1896/97); Rectory (1898); School (1902)
Date of Closure: 1990
Date of Reuse: 1992-1996
Address: 1814 South Paulina Chicago, IL 60608
Neighborhood: Pilsen, Chicago’s Southwest Side. The Pilsen neighborhood is a lively residential and commercial area consisting mainly of Mexican immigrants.
Reuse: (Principal) Day-care/after school programs, 200+ children; nonprofit office space. (Secondary) Cultural center
Building Size: 4,500 sq. ft. (church)
Project Cost: $1.2 million, conversion of school / $400,000, anticipated repairs to church
Resoluions: A community task force collaborated with area interfaith organizations to develop a non-profit community development corporation called The Resurrection Project. This group was organized to specifically focus on developing and overseeing uses for the complex, as well as developing numerous low-income and affordable housing units and residences in the area.
Renovation: A state-of-the-art day care facility was designed for the former parochial school, and plans are underway for a cultural center in the now hollow sanctuary space that was destroyed by a fire.
Impacts: The Resurrection Project operates one of the most active community reinvestment programs in the area from the former St. Vitus Church.
When the Archdiocese of Chicago decided to close the St. Vitus Catholic Church in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood in 1990 because of diminishing attendance and membership, the fate of the church building was unknown. St. Vitus had been an active house of worship and home for many of Pilsen’s Slavic and Mexican immigrants in Chicago’s Southwest Side. The parish complex was large and consisted of a church, rectory and school and occupied a prominent position in the neighborhood. The vacant façade of the brown brick Romanesque building attracted the attention of a wide variety of community activists, preservationists and religious leaders who felt that there should be a viable future for the complex.
The Interfaith Community Organization, a group started by six area parishes in collaboration to strengthen community empowerment through developing local leadership, began looking for a way to use the important building to meet the needs of the community. They consulted with Inspired Partnerships to brainstorm future uses for St. Vitus and create a plan for its preservation. The group also consulted with a number of local social service agencies to appropriately devise uses and tenants for the building. A community task force was organized to come together and see that the complex be put to use to fit the needs of the surrounding community.
From this interfaith organization, a faith based community development organization called The Resurrection Project was established in 1992. The new group moved its operations into the rectory of the complex and began negotiations with the Archdiocese for control of the property. After the price was reduced from $200,000 to $10, and with the blessings of Cardinal Bernardin, the parish buildings were acquired for the non--profit organization’s offices and day care facility. The stipulation by the Archdiocese was that St. Vitus would be reborn as a child care center.
“We had a vision, and we were confident we could pull it off,” says Raul Raymundo with The Resurrection Project. “We held street festivals, sold candles, buttons, T--shirts — all that money we were able to raise in the community helped us leverage monies from outside the community.” Eventually, they raised $1.2 million to turn the parish’s former school into a child care center. Volunteers from neighboring parishes cleaned the building and painted the interior to keep costs down.
Unfortunately, a fire struck the interior of the church, destroying the stained glass windows and sections of the floor and walls and causing extensive smoke damage. The church has been unused since the fire and the community development corporation is currently consulting with contractors and architects to undergo restoration and repair work. Cesar Nunez, the commercial development manager, would like to see the building open again soon. The Resurrection Project has become one of the most active grass--root, non--profit organizations in Chicago, with a current record of completing 130 single family residences, 150 units of affordable housing in 15 buildings, and two daycare centers. From its offices in the rectory and other offices in another church close to the former St. Vitus complex, the non--profit offers bilingual counseling and assistance for first time homebuyers and manages their rental properties.
Using the proceeds of the $1.2 million capital campaign, the former grammar school has been converted to a daycare center called the Centro Familiar Guadalupano and is operated by the Chicago Commons non--profit corporation. The building now contains nine classrooms, an arts and crafts studio, offices and a kitchen. The children that attend the facility are of pre--school to elementary school age, and there is a Head start Program for the younger children. The day care facility regularly cares for over 180 low--income children from early morning to early evening hours.
The planned use for the church space is a cultural center specifically focused on the Latino and youth community. Mr. Nunez said he would like to see “a place for people to explore the arts and theater” by offering art classes and gallery space, hosting visiting theater troupes, and functioning as a gathering space for community meetings and events for other non--profit entities.
The Resurrection Project would like to restore the sanctuary to its former glory and is currently seeking technical assistance to do so. The project sponsors hope to utilize tax credits or funding for grants, thereby spreading their $300,000 budget to replace stained glass windows, install a heating system, and repair the plaster capitals on the interior columns.
The majority of the funding for the building maintenance and operation comes from the rental income of the non--profit organization. Staff members perform any needed building repairs.
For more information contact:
The Resurrection Project
1818 South Paulina
Chicago, IL 60608
(312) 666-1323
www.resurrectionproject.org
