Church of St. Vitus (Chicago)

Last updated
The Former St. Vitus' Roman Catholic Church Complex
Church of St. Vitus (Chicago)
General information
Town or city Pilsen, Chicago, Illinois
Country United States
Coordinates 41°51′25″N87°40′08″W / 41.8570°N 87.6688°W / 41.8570; -87.6688 Coordinates: 41°51′25″N87°40′08″W / 41.8570°N 87.6688°W / 41.8570; -87.6688
Construction started1896
Completed1897
ClientThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago
Technical details
Structural systemMasonry

St. Vitus's Church Complex was a former late-nineteenth-century Roman Catholic church located in Pilsen, Chicago, Illinois at 1814 South Paulina Street, and corner of 18th Street. The church itself was closed in 1990 and the rectory and remaining space adaptively reused as the Guadalupano Family Center, a daycare and cultural center thereafter.

The complex contained a 4,500-square-foot (420 m2) church (1896–1897), rectory (1898), and parish school (1902). The complex was closed 1990. The National Trust for Historic Preservation profiled the structure as a good example of adaptive reuse: "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." The church was renovated 1992-1996 as 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….The Resurrection Project operates one of the most active community reinvestment programs in the area from the [church]," costing $1.2 million for conversion of school and $400,000, anticipated repairs to church. [1]

Its location in a Latino neighborhood enabled its large number of parishioners to work with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago to explore reuse options with a team of architects, urban planners, historic preservationists, low-income housing specialists, commercial developers, and educators to create Guadalupano Family Center, a day care and cultural activity center. [2] Opened in 1994, the child care facility "that operates on a sliding scale fee, serving the population of 6,000 children between 3 and 12 years of age living within 1/2 mile of the center. The center also employs a staff of 22 teachers." [3]

Related Research Articles

Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an existing building for a purpose other than which it was originally built or designed for. It is also known as recycling and conversion. Adaptive reuse is an effective strategy for optimizing the operational and commercial performance of built assets. Adaptive reuse of buildings can be an attractive alternative to new construction in terms of sustainability and a circular economy. It has prevented thousands of buildings' demolition and has allowed them to become critical components of urban regeneration. Not every old building can qualify for adaptive reuse. Architects, developers, builders and entrepreneurs who wish to become involved in rejuvenating and reconstructing a building must first make sure that the finished product will serve the need of the market, that it will be completely useful for its new purpose, and that it will be competitively priced.

New Community Corporation (NCC) is a not-for-profit community development corporation based in Newark, New Jersey. NCC focuses on community organizing, provision of a variety of community-enhancing services, and resident participation in agency operation. Early prototypes of the community action movement included local housing and service agencies started by the Ford Foundation Gray Areas Initiative and the United States Office of Economic Opportunity, and both federal and private Mobilization for Youth in New York City.

Westbeth Artists Community United States historic place

Westbeth Artists Housing is a nonprofit housing and commercial complex dedicated to providing affordable living and working space for artists and arts organizations in New York City. The complex comprises the full city block bounded by West, Bethune, Washington and Bank Streets in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City; the complex is named for two of these streets, West and Bethune.

Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church (Detroit, Michigan) United States historic place

The Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Convent and Rectory is a Roman Catholic church complex located at 1000 Eliot Street in Detroit, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1975 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Corpus Christi R. C. Church Complex Church in New York, United States

The Corpus Christi R.C. Church Complex is a series of several buildings located on Buffalo's historic East Side within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo. The complex contains the Kolbe Center, Sears Street Hall, Rectory, Convent and the huge sandstone church that towers over the neighborhood. The complex school was closed in 1982 and has been razed.

Our Lady Help of Christians Historic District (Newton, Massachusetts) United States historic place

Our Lady Help of Christians Historic District encompasses a complex of Roman Catholic religious buildings in the Nonantum village of Newton, Massachusetts. It includes four fine examples of brick Gothic Revival architecture: the church, convent, and rectory, as well as Trinity Catholic High School. The first three buildings were designed by noted ecclesiastical architect James Murphy, and were built between 1873 and 1890. The high school building was built in 1924, also in the Gothic Revival style. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

St. Monicas Church (Queens) United States historic place

St. Monica's Church is a historic former Roman Catholic parish church in the Diocese of Brooklyn, located in Jamaica, Queens, New York. It was built in 1856 and is a brick basilica-type building in the Romanesque style. It features a four-story entrance tower in the center of its three-bay-wide front facade. Saint Monica's Church has been refurbished on the Campus of York College as a child care center.

St. Josephs Church and Rectory (Rochester, New York) United States historic place

St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church and Rectory was a historic Roman Catholic church and rectory located at 108 Franklin Street, Rochester in Monroe County, New York. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The structure's shell has been preserved as monument after a disastrous fire.

Saint Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church Complex

Saint Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church Complex is a historic Roman Catholic church complex at 42, 46, 50 Cornell Street, and 73 Reid Street in Amsterdam, Montgomery County, New York. The complex consists of four contributing buildings:

St. Thomas the Apostle Church (Manhattan)

Church of St. Thomas the Apostle is a former Roman Catholic parish church in New York City that had been threatened with demolition was the subject of a landmarks preservation debate. The parish was established in 1889; staffed by the Salesians of Don Bosco from 1979 to 2003; and closed in 2003 because of a diminished congregation and structural problems.

St. Anthonys Catholic Church (Davenport, Iowa) United States historic place

St. Anthony's Catholic Church is a parish church in the Diocese of Davenport. The parish complex is located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States, at the corner of Fourth and Main Streets. It is the first church congregation organized in the city of Davenport and the second Catholic congregation, after St. Raphael's in Dubuque, in the state of Iowa. The parish buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church Complex in 1984. The designation includes the church and the former school building, which is the parish's original church building and the oldest standing church building in Iowa. The designation also included the rectory, which was partially torn down in 2009. The complex was also listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties in 1992 as St. Anthony's Church Square. The property has been known historically as Church Square. In 2020 the parish buildings, except for the parish center, were included as contributing properties in the Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District. Because of its recent construction date, the parish center is excluded as a contributing property.

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church (Maria Stein, Ohio) United States historic place

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church is a historic Roman Catholic church in Marion Township, Mercer County, Ohio, United States. Located in the unincorporated community of Maria Stein, it is the home of an active congregation and has been recognized as a historic site because of its well-preserved late nineteenth-century Romanesque Revival architecture.

St. Josephs Roman Catholic Church Rectory and School United States historic place

St. Joseph Plaza is an event venue in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey which formerly served St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, a parish of the Archdiocese of Newark of the Roman Catholic Church.

St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Parish Complex United States historic place

St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Parish Complex is a historic former Roman Catholic church complex located in Buffalo in Erie County, New York.

Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church Complex (Niagara Falls, New York) United States historic place

Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church Complex is a historic Polish, Roman Catholic and former church located at Niagara Falls in Niagara County, New York within the Diocese of Buffalo.

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (Celina, Ohio) United States historic place

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Celina, Ohio, United States. Founded later than many other Catholic parishes in the heavily Catholic region of western Ohio, it owns a complex of buildings constructed in the early 20th century that have been designated historic sites because of their architecture. Leading among them is its massive church, built in the Romanesque Revival style just 43 years after the first Catholic moved into the city: it has been called northwestern Ohio's grandest church building.

Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation Community organization

The Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation (GREC) is a consortium of neighborhood organizations in North Brooklyn that serves to facilitate and advocate the activities for city initiatives, as well as coordinate community involvement in the neighborhood of the former Greenpoint Hospital Complex.

St. Andres Parish United States historic place

St. Andre's Parish is a former parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, located on Bacon and Sullivan Streets in Biddeford, Maine. The parish was founded in 1860 to serve the city's large French-Canadian and French-American communities. On July 1, 2008, St. Andres was merged into the newly formed Good Shepherd Parish. The parish complex of four buildings, including the church, rectory, convent, and school, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015, at which time most of it stood vacant.

St. Matthias Roman Catholic Church United States historic place

St. Matthias Roman Catholic Church Complex is a historic Roman Catholic church complex located in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens County, New York. The church was built in 1926, and is an Italian Renaissance Revival style, brick, stone, and terra cotta church with a gable roof. It features a three-stage bell tower at the projecting center bay and Corinthian order columns. Also on the property are the contributing four-story rectory (1910), school, and convent (1914).

Church of the Transfiguration Historic District United States historic place

The Church of the Transfiguration Historic District is a group of buildings associated with what was the Church of the Transfiguration Roman Catholic parish, located at 5830 Simon K in Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.

References

  1. National Trust for Historic Preservation, "The Resurrection Project" (15 June 2005), Preservation Nation, http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/case-studies/historic-houses-of-worship/the-resurrection-project.html (accessed 23 May 2008).
  2. Cohen, Diane and A. Robert Jaeger. Strategies for the Stewardship and Active Use of Older and Historic Religious Properties. Preservation Information Series. (Washington, D.C.: The Preservation Press, National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States, 1996.), p.19
  3. Partners for Sacred Places, "Adaptive Reuse Profiles: Community Facilities," http://www.sacredplaces.org/ (accessed 4 May 2008).