St. Mark Roman Catholic Church Campus

Address: 2516 W. Cortez Street
Architect: Barry and Kay
Year: 1963
Style: Midcentury Modern
Neighborhood: Humboldt Park 

Overview

St. Mark Roman Catholic Church Campus has been at the heart of the Catholic community in Humboldt Park since the parish was founded in the 1890s. The parish first served an Irish community, then a Polish community, and now a Puerto Rican and Mexican community. The greystone rectory was built in 1896 and the red-brick school building was built in 1906, but the Midcentury modern church was completed in 1963 by Chicago architects Barry & Kay.

Despite a thriving community, the parish was consolidated by the Archdiocese of Chicago, the church was closed and has since been listed for sale. Fortunately, the local alderman insisted that the school building, which is home to a charter school, be withdrawn from the sales listing. The church is a remarkable building and Preservation Chicago and the neighbors support a creative reuse of the building, perhaps as a community center or a Chicago Public Library Branch location.

Preservation Chicago supports the reuse of the buildings for the community which would also honor the rich heritage of the neighborhood, from its origins to the present day. As a long-standing witness to the demographic, cultural and social transformation of Humboldt Park, St. Mark’s merits designation as the second city landmark recognizing Puerto Rican heritage.

History

The story of St. Mark Roman Catholic Church in Chicago in many ways follows the familiar path of Chicago’s other immigrant-driven neighborhood churches. As Irish immigrants moved west past Humboldt Park in the 1890s, Archbishop Patrick A. Feehan (1829-1902) approved the establishment of St. Mark Parish in the summer of 1894 to serve English-speaking Catholics in the area.

The priest’s residence, a greystone rectory, was completed at 1048 N. Campbell Avenue in 1896. It became the oldest building on this site that still stands today. In 1906, St. Mark School, the three-story red-brick building at 2510 W. Humboldt Avenue (now Cortez Street), was completed.

In the 1950s, the neighborhood became predominantly Polish. To accommodate the growing congregation, a new larger church with a capacity of 900 was approved by Archbishop Albert Cardinal Meyer (1903-1965) in 1960. Costing $620,000, the low-slung modernist church was completed in 1963. The church was designed by Chicago architects Barry & Kay. The firm designed several dozen buildings in the Archdiocese of Chicago, including the 1936 Saint Bartholomew Church in Chicago and the 1953 Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Glenview, Illinois. According to his 1999 obituary, architect Allan Louis Karl, who worked at Barry & Kay, was also specifically credited with the design of St. Mark Catholic Church. As one of the few major churches to construct a new building in the inner city in the 1960s, the new St. Mark’s church was described by Father Dunne as “an expression of courage and confidence in the future of the inner city.”

The interior of the new church is spacious and unique. The large, open hall is supported by a double row of slightly tapering concrete and steel shafts, which also act as side aisles. The walls are multi-textured and patterned, and the floor has two different patterns of terrazzo, small grained and large grained. Among the most notable things in the church are the stained-glass windows created by French artist Gabriel Loire, whose work adorns the royal chapel in Monaco. Born in 1904, near Angers, France, Loire studied painting under the renowned French painter Georges Rouault and was inspired by the windows of Chartres Cathedral, where he apprenticed at a restoration studio.

In the early 1960s, Humboldt Park’s demographics began to change as Puerto Ricans moved in, followed by many Mexicans. St. Mark became the parish that served the majority of Spanish-speaking families in the neighborhood in the 1970s.

Threat

The closure of St. Mark’s church and the consolidation of the parish has really impacted the community around the former church and the now-active charter school that’s within the former St. Mark School building. The Archdiocese of Chicago, owner of the St. Mark’s campus, has listed the buildings and site for sale. Fortunately, the school was removed from the sales listing at the request of Alderman Gilbert Villegas.

However, neighborhood residents are not in favor or interested in any redevelopment of the site other than a reuse of the existing structures. A reuse of the historic buildings – including the mid-century modern church and the 1890s-era rectory for a community use – could be a wonderful plan for the former St. Mark church and rectory while also keeping the charter school as a community asset.

To date, community discussions have centered on preservation and the alderman and City officials have heard calls for consideration of a Chicago Landmark District of St. Mark’s campus. However, plans have not changed and the buildings are still facing an uncertain future, as they are still listed for sale.

Recommendations

Many creative ideas and approaches for reusing St. Mark’s existing buildings could be generated since the Archdiocese of Chicago has permanently closed the site for religious services. Neighbors and community residents have suggested the former 1960s-era church be repurposed as a community center or a Chicago Public Library Branch location. The historic rectory building, constructed in the 1890s, could become affordable apartments while the school (originally a church-school combination building) should remain a charter school that serves the Humboldt Park Community and families. Preservation Chicago supports the reuse of the buildings for the community which would also honor the rich heritage of the neighborhood, from its origins to the present day.

So far, the Paseo Boricua Gateway Flags, constructed in 1995 in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, remain the only officially recognized city landmark associated with Chicago’s Puerto Rican community. Although St. Mark’s church and school was originally built by English-speaking European immigrants in the late 19th century, it began serving the Puerto Rican community in the 1960s, more than 30 years before the Gateway Flags were established. As a long-standing witness to the demographic, cultural and social transformation of Humboldt Park, St. Mark’s merits designation as the second city landmark recognizing Puerto Rican heritage.