St. Paul’s Church

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St. Paul’s Church
Life Span: 1897-Present
Location: 22nd Place and Hoyne avenue, 2127 W 22nd Pl
Architect: Henry John Schlacks

Lakeside Business Directory of the City of Chicago, 1899

St. Paul’s Church (German)

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904
St. Paul’s Church (German)—W. 22d pl. sw. cor. S Hoyne av. Pastor, Rev. B. Standig

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1911
St. Paul’s Church (German)—W. 22d pl. sw. cor. S Hoyne av.

Inter Ocean, June 6, 1897

ST. PAUL’S CHURCH.
The new St. Paul’s church, in course of construction at Hope avenue and West Twenty-Second place, was designed by Henry J. Schlacks of Chicago, in the style of late Romanesque and gothic, as taken from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries. The dimensions are as follows: Two hundred and nine feet is the total length, including the sacristy. The width over all is 108 feet. The two towers are each thirty-two feet square ot the bottom, and 245 feet high above sidewalk. The width of the body of the church is sixty-eight feet.

There will be no plaster in this church, as it is to be built entirely, both out and in, of brick in different colors. The main entrance is through six pair of doors into three large vaulted vestibules which lead directly into nave and side aisles The nave is entirely free from columns, as there will be no pews in the side aisles, these being used as aisles only, and extend all around the church and. baok of the high altar.

The height of the nave will be seventy-five feet, the with forty feet between the columns, which divide it from the side aisles. The body of the church expands as the front is approached. It has the bulk of the seating capacity in the transepts, so that the majority of the congregation are brought within close proximity to the sanctuary.

Like the later churches in Northern Germany, the walls, arches, vaulting, ribs, columns, etc., are to be constructed entirely of specially made pressed brick. The interior is treated architeeturally, the brick to be of special molds and of different colors; the decorations will consist of mosale pietures in the wall spaces. The interior will also be ornamented with sculpture in white terra cotta. It is expected the church will be completed in a year and a half. The edifice will cost $75,000.

The Congregation and Pastor.
Father B. Weber organized the congregation, which took the name of St. Paul, in 1877. A small frame building was purchased and a school commenced. To this building other smaller temporary buildings were added, March 1, 1888, Archbishop Feehan sent Rev. G. D. Heldmann to take the place of Father Weber. He is the present pastor. He is a native Chicagoan, who was born on the old South Side, Aug. 4, 1858.

Fireproof Magazine, December, 1904

When it was decided to build the new church for St. Paul’s parish, Chicago, the first question was as to the kind of church best suited to fulfill all the requirements, which were, first, the seating capacity, and afterward the selection of such a style as would appeal to, and, in a general way, be best calculated to satisfy the people of the congregation .

Father Geo. D. Heldmann, the pastor of the congregation at that time, had in mind to construct a building entirely of stone, this being his idea of what a Catholic church should be, and he expressed himself as desiring the use of solid masses of material, permanent throughout, so designed as to do away with superficial treatment of surfaces, especially in the interior.

Here the question of cost entered into the proposition, and it was finally decided that, as the edifice built of brick would be much cheaper, this material be employed, and the plans were made accordingly.

The general style of the architecture is that of the transitional period, as between the late Romanesque and early Gothic, and was handled on the lines of the churches designed by Prof. Johannes Otzen of the University of Berlin, with rather a decided departure, however, from his method of handling the towers in similar problems. The towers of the Cathedral of St. Coretin of Quimper, France, were taken as a prototype for the treatment of the facade. The towers were originally designed closer together, with but one entrance, but upon the construction of a model it was discovered that the perspective at any slight angle from the center line of the church brought the towers so close together that the silhouette made them look like one feature; hence the towers were spread apart, the scheme of the vestibules broadened and three entrances introduced leading to the three aisles of the church. This was the only material change made from the original design in the execution of this building.

The bricks selected for the trimmings were made in Ohio, of Ohio clay, and are of a golden color, almost impervious to moisture, and were used to form all the trimmings, moldings, washes, railings, etc. There were 760 different shapes of bricks employed in the construction, each brick molded specially, according to the full-size details, which contemplated making of miters, special angles, returns, etc., on the solid. It will be readily seen from an examination of the photographs how it was that so many specially shaped bricks were required. The arch bricks, besides being molded with the shape of the molding on them, also had to have the joints radiating to the center of the arch it served. As the various arches had recessed splays, the distance from the various rings to the center varied; hence there was not only a different shape brick of the same molding for the different sized arches, but there were different shape bricks of the same molding in the same arch.

The sills of the windows and the washes for the same, with the solid seats as starters for the columns at the sides of the windows, were also all made of brick in the same manner; in fact, the entire building is constructed of brick as far as possible, which includes everything but the copings on the walls and the projecting gargoyles, which are of terra cotta.

It will be noticed from the illustrations that the railings on the towers, all the ornamental work, and the ornamental panels, are made of brick. The glass is set in brick frames, and, as above mentioned, all these shapes had to be specially made, each to fit its particular location in the building.

The 760 different shapes of bricks were marked, first with letters referring to the different kinds of moldings, and then with numbers as to the different kinds of the same letter, and then in the case of the arch brick the radius was stamped in, giving the radius of each particular brick in feet and inches. All these markings were made in the die, consequently the markings were cast into the brick, which greatly facilitated the handling of the same. The great difficulty was in the chance miscalculation as to the actual amount of brick of any particular kind required. When the number of bricks made of any particular kind was found to fall short of the actual number required, a delay of from five to seven weeks on that particular part of the work was necessary, as it took about that amount of time to make the new bricks and deliver them at the building.

I have enlarged a great deal on the subject of the molded brick for this building, as it was the second important matter and entailed a large amount of work and presented many obstacles , for the entire interior, as well as exterior, is constructed of brick, and the question of a suitable color for the interior of a material, adapted to permit its being used in the various forms necessary to carry out the design, formed a combination hard to find.

The most serious problems which presented themselves were the question of foundations and the matter of the proper outline for the arches of the ceiling, especially the Gothic vaulting of the transepts. While the foundation plans were in contemplation it was decided to build concrete foundations and carry up the walls to the spring line of the arches, and then to load the same with twice the amount of load impending upon the walls, and let the same stand for at least six months until the walls had thoroughly dried out and the foundations had taken their final set, as it was feared that the slightest movement in the foundations or walls would disrupt the brick arches and affect the stability of the structure. It was found, however, upon making borings on the site that there was solid rock at the depth of 20 feet below the surface, which at once eliminated the difficulty as to the question of foundations, and left only the problem of the construction of the groined arches of the ceiling . The calculations for the arches resulted in their being made 26 feet high at the center or key and 4 feet 6 inches at the haunch, on a line at little variance from the Gothic line.

The idea of the fireproof construction was carried throughout, and only the pews and the temporary wooden altar are made of combustible material.

The floor of the building consists of vaulted concrete arches resting on brick walls. The entire ceiling, as mentioned hereinbefore, is built of self-sustaining brick arches and ribs, the filling in of the ceiling being done with flat tile laid in three courses, breaking joints so as to form monolithic arches.

The general tone for the interior is of a golden hue, and this pertains only to the color of the architectural members, such as arches, ribs, moldings, columns, window frames, ornamental brick panels, railings, etc., the flat wall surfaces themselves being left in common brick, which it is intended to cover with decorations in mosaic. One of the reasons for not putting in the mosaic at the time the building was completed was that the glass for the windows was imported, and the color scheme for the mosaic decoration could not be determined until the imported glass had been set in place and its effect upon the interior was taken into consideration.

Among other special features is the isolation of the organ chamber. In order to guard against any damaging effect to the organ by dampness, the walls around it were built with double air space and the ceiling over it in a similar manner.

The entire length of the church is 225 feet, while the width of the nave inside is 42 feet. The height from the floor to the ceiling of the center of the intersection of the transept and nave is 73 feet. The extreme width of the church over transepts is 105 feet. The height of the towers from the sidewalk to the top of the cross on the spires is 245 feet. The church was dedicated on June 25, 1899, and while the work has been interrupted from time to time, it is expected to put in the new altars and to complete the mosaic decorations during next year.

While it was first intended to let the work out by contract, no one could be found with whom satisfactory arrangements could be made, so the building was built by day work and completed at a cost, exclusive of furniture and glass, of $87,000, and, while this church is a novel structure of its kind to Chicago, its picturesque style is prevalent in the church architecture of recent years in northern Germany.

Some Observations on the Design and Construction of Churches.
This building has caused somewhat of an awakening, and its influence is noticed in the striving for all that is classical in this art in the building of Catholic churches at the present day at Chicago. It may be many years before there can be a combination of the European architecture of churches with modern requirements, and it will be quite difficult for the combination to assume any fixed standard.

Each new structure is being built different from the last, and each has for its aim the plan of practicability and the architectural treatment of a sort wavering between the European ideas of church building and the American precedent of past years. The European church is so much a part of the ceremony of the Catholic religion that to the Catholic of study and travel the two are inseparable, while to the architect the very names of the various parts of such a building demand the treatment it has taken hundreds of years to develop. The obstacle to all, however, is the reconciliation of our modern arrangement of stationary pews with the old one of movable chairs. Owing to this there is a strong tendency to do away with interior columns because of their obstruction to the view. In some cases in Chicago churches this important feature of European churches has been boldly omitted or reduced in value, and the result is a somewhat boxlike structure of a depot type, entirely unsatisfactory in all respects except the practicability of purpose. In some we see too much of a sacrifice to this idea, and in no case can this atone for the mishandling of what should be a beautiful monument—the House of God. The diversified opinions and actions among the clergy themselves have led to the development of all kinds of ideas, each committing faults in the building of a church, which faults should only serve as a lesson, demanding their concerted action.

Of late years there is a strong tendency toward affiliation of ideas, but the omnipresent bulwark, practical economy, handicaps the proper handling of the problem, as most of the many properties are confined to certain lot limits , with adjoining buildings, etc.

In Europe the place is made for the church.

In Chicago the church is made for the place.

The introduction of skeleton steel construction has been a strong factor in influencing misdevelopment of structures in their proportions. A true church should be built entirely of either stone or brick; then the loading of the piers, columns, etc., would compel making each of proper size to carry its load, and then only is true proportion obtained, for the natural material assumes natural proportions when calculated to serve the load impending above it.

Then, again, the solid masses of material, the true construction, the absence of false work or sham, are so much embodiments of the faith as to proclaim each other everywhere about the church building.

The church building of the future will be the “auditorium feature” housed within a monumental treatment of all, in an adaptation of the Romanesque style of architecture, or, perhaps, what would be better suited for the purpose the Renaissance. Of course, if the churches are not to be large churches there will always be the leaning toward the Gothic, which is so beautifully carried out in many of the smaller churches of England, but this style does not seem best suited to our climate.

The interior will be of permanent construction, as the question of cost of renewal of frescoing is already causing much discussion. The cost to one parish alone for this purpose in a year has already reached the figure of $60,000, which amount, originally expended in the construction, would have gone a long way toward the construction of a permanent interior. With the permanent interior will come many improvements, for the solid construction of the interior requires architecture rather than the superficial treatment of surfaces by the decorator. No church should depend upon the decorator for its interior. Upon entering a church one should be able to continue to read the logical developments of its features and not be startled with surprises of beauty (?), the mysterious fancies of the responsible designer or the importance of construction, were it not for the hidden falsework.—Henry John Schlacks,
Director of the Course in Architecture of the University of Notre Dame.

Note by the Editor.—The above description of this remarkable church by its architect is nearly as complete as it should be. While he has mentioned the fact that it was intended to be fireproof and that no combustible material enters into its construction (for the pews only are made of wood), it is important to add that the roof over the groined brick arches, which form the ceiling of every part, is built entirely of steel and covered with burned clay tiles. The illustrations which we give herewith are so complete as to render further description hardly necessary. This edifice is located in a part of Chicago quite unfrequented by the general observer, but its prominent spires often attract the attention of the wayfarer in the southwest part of the city. It is situated at West 22d place and Hoyne avenue, and is seen to advantage from many points of view, because it is surrounded by small buildings, and the many homes of the toilers, in moderate circumstances, who constitute the parish.

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