Amusing Scrotum
28th March 2006, 08:26
Originally posted by The New York Times
Fire Destroys a Landmark Chicago Church Famed for Gospel Music
By JODI WILGOREN and MONICA DAVEY
CHICAGO, Jan. 6 - A raging blaze Friday afternoon quickly destroyed the 115-year-old Pilgrim Baptist Church, an architectural and cultural landmark in this city's Bronzeville neighborhood that is renowned as the historic home of gospel music.
Investigators could not determine the fire's cause Friday, but officials said their focus was on roof repairs under way shortly before the flames erupted about 3 p.m. The church janitor, who escaped unscathed, said he was the only person inside the building when the fire broke out; two firefighters sustained minor injuries from smoke and debris.
Church members and neighborhood residents stood vigil for hours on blocks filled with black smoke, staring in shock at the charred hole where so much history had happened, as preservationists throughout the city joined in the mourning.
[....]
Deemed a city landmark in 1981, the South Side church was significant not only for its role in African-American musical and religious history, but as one of the last remaining, defining works of the legendary Chicago architect Louis Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan built the structure in 1891 as a synagogue with his partner Dankmar Adler, whose father was the congregation's rabbi; a young draftsman named Frank Lloyd Wright worked on the project.
http://college4.nytimes.com/guests/article.../07/1290761.xml (http://college4.nytimes.com/guests/articles/2006/01/07/1290761.xml)
The architect they refer too, Louis Sullivan, is, if I'm not mistaken, the man credited with being the inventor of the skyscrapers of today, but in all fairness, this Church was really fucking ugly....
http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/images/landmarks/p/pilgrim1a.jpg
Fire Destroys a Landmark Chicago Church Famed for Gospel Music
By JODI WILGOREN and MONICA DAVEY
CHICAGO, Jan. 6 - A raging blaze Friday afternoon quickly destroyed the 115-year-old Pilgrim Baptist Church, an architectural and cultural landmark in this city's Bronzeville neighborhood that is renowned as the historic home of gospel music.
Investigators could not determine the fire's cause Friday, but officials said their focus was on roof repairs under way shortly before the flames erupted about 3 p.m. The church janitor, who escaped unscathed, said he was the only person inside the building when the fire broke out; two firefighters sustained minor injuries from smoke and debris.
Church members and neighborhood residents stood vigil for hours on blocks filled with black smoke, staring in shock at the charred hole where so much history had happened, as preservationists throughout the city joined in the mourning.
[....]
Deemed a city landmark in 1981, the South Side church was significant not only for its role in African-American musical and religious history, but as one of the last remaining, defining works of the legendary Chicago architect Louis Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan built the structure in 1891 as a synagogue with his partner Dankmar Adler, whose father was the congregation's rabbi; a young draftsman named Frank Lloyd Wright worked on the project.
http://college4.nytimes.com/guests/article.../07/1290761.xml (http://college4.nytimes.com/guests/articles/2006/01/07/1290761.xml)
The architect they refer too, Louis Sullivan, is, if I'm not mistaken, the man credited with being the inventor of the skyscrapers of today, but in all fairness, this Church was really fucking ugly....
http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/images/landmarks/p/pilgrim1a.jpg