| St. Columba Church | |
|---|---|
 St. Columba Church viewed from the south | |
  St. Columba Church  St. Columba Church | |
| Coordinates: 44°57′38″N93°9′21″W / 44.96056°N 93.15583°W | |
| Location | 1327 Lafond Avenue, Saint Paul, Minnesota |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | www |
The Church of St. Columba is a Roman Catholic church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. The parish was formed in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood in 1915. After the mid-twentieth century baby boom, the church was expanding and needed a new building. Then-pastor Michael Casey contracted with architect Barry Byrne to design and construct the building. Byrne was based in Chicago and his formal schooling ended in the Ninth Grade. [1] Byrne worked under Frank Lloyd Wright and was involved with the Prairie School of architecture before later turned towards Expressionist architecture. [2] [3] Byrne designed the building later in his career.
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2017, the city's estimated population was 309,180. Saint Paul is the county seat of Ramsey County, the smallest and most densely populated county in Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city. Known as the "Twin Cities", the two form the core of Minneapolis–Saint Paul, the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with about 3.6 million residents.
Saint Paul, Minnesota is noted for its neighborhoods. The city has been called "fifteen small towns with one mayor", owing to the neighborhood-based life of much of the city. Saint Paul is partially governed by not 15 but 17 City Districts.
The middle of the twentieth century was marked by significant and persistent increase in fertility rates in many countries of the world, especially in the West, resulting in the famous baby boomer generation. Although the baby-boom traditionally considered to be the post-war phenomenon starting immediately after World War II, some demographers place it earlier, at the increase of births during the war or in the late 1930s.
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The 1949 church is very similar in design to St. Francis Xavier Church in Kansas City, Missouri, that was also designed by Byrne. The pastor Michael Casey had the bell tower built to look like an Irish round tower. [4] The interior of the church is built from two overlapping circles. This creates an elliptical interior and an overhead profile that resembles a fish. [4] The fish is one of the earliest symbols of Christianity and the construction of the shape of the church was undoubtedly intentional. [5] The amount of light available on the inside of the building is worth mentioning. [6] There are more than 24 slit like clerestory windows that let natural light in. The interior lightness contrasts with the heavy concrete exterior. [7] The interior of the church features an under lit cove close to the ceiling. [8] Twin Cities architecture critic Larry Millett views the altar as being small for the large interior of the building. [4] Vincent Michael also believes that the altar is undersized compared to the size of the nave. [8]
Kansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city had an estimated population of 488,943 in 2017, making it the 37th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Kansas–Missouri state line. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a Missouri River port at its confluence with the Kansas River coming in from the west. On June 1, 1850 the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after.
Larry Millett is an American journalist and author. He is the former architectural critic for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, a daily newspaper in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the author of several books on the history of architecture in Minnesota. He has also written a series of Sherlock Holmes mysteries set in the United States and Minnesota in the 1890s. The books feature the character Shadwell Rafferty, who assists Holmes in his American investigations.
Unlike St. Francis Xavier the entrance doors are made of metal instead of polished glass. Michael Vincent believes it still leaves the impression of emptiness underneath the bell tower. [8] To create the internal shape the external walls are curved. They are constructed of limestone. There is a large amount of concrete and has been described as a "tour de force" of concrete. [4] Several elements of the church are viewed as unique due to their combination. Millett sees the slots in the bell tower, the granite crosses embedded in the exterior walls and the metal on the entrance doors as a special grouping. [9]
Millett describes the building as a "high point in modern church architecture in the Twin Cities" and notes it as being removed from many religious and architectural norms. [4] Other critiques note it as having shapes and orders that defy orthodox expectations. [10]
