Sunday, March 22, 2009

St. Joseph Byzantine Church - Abandoned Treasure


I came across these photos (taken in February 2009) on Flickr of an abandoned church in Cleveland, OH. 

St. Joseph Byzantine Catholic Church (above: interior) was built in 1933, and was designed by architect Joseph E. Fronczak (or Franczak) of Buffalo, NY. I'm not sure who the mural artist was -- but they are very well done. 

In the 1970s, parish members began migrating out of the city to the suburbs. The congregation dwindled. The great expense of maintaining the building and the grounds forced the congregation to abandon the location. Eventually, the building was taken over by the Greater Zion Hill Baptist Church community, who in turn abandoned the building. More photos of this church can be seen at Flickr at this link and this link.

Can we allow this to happen to any more of our ecclesiastical treasures?

4 comments:

  1. OMG, this is darn near much as bad as Transfiguration in Buffalo (except the roof doesn't appear to be rotted through to the sky - yet!).

    This is truly a tragedy! Can this be saved at all? Is there any future for this treasure other than the wrecking ball?

    This is THE worst one I've seen - and we can't blame any Catholic diocese for this one ... last I heard, it was still (barely) standing:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cnVosO-OHk

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  2. FROM WHAT I SEE EVERYDAY, I DON'T THINK IT CAN BE SAVED FROM THE WRECKING BALL. IT HAS BEEN STRIPPED OF COPPER FROM THE ROOF AND THAT HAS LEFT THE INSIDE TO THE MERCY OF THE ELEMENTS. IF IT WAS BOARDED, AND IT SEEMS IT WAS, SINCE SOME STILL HAVE BOARDS ON THEM, MOST OF THE BOARDS HAVE BEEN REMOVED. THAT LEAVES IT MORE OPEN TO THE ELEMENTS. MAYBE THE BUILDING IS SOUND, BUT IT'S CERTAINLY A MESS FROM THE OUTSIDE. EVEN THE STAIRS HAVE BEEN SMASHED. MAYBE TO PREVENT ACCESS TO IT, I DON'T KNOW. I JUST KNOW I PASS IT EVERY MORNING.

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  3. I grew up attending this church. I was an altar boy there before they sold it. It wasn't just the cost of the property, it was an aging congregation combined with a rapidly rising crime rate in the area. Parishioners became concerned for their safety, and looked for somewhere else to go, eventually deciding on land in Brecksville, OH . The new church had to meet local ordinances, and pales by comparison to the awe inspiring art of this old church on Orleans.

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  4. This breaks my heart. I went to St. Joseph's as a child. It was so beautiful. My Aunt & Uncle donated one of the stained glass windows. I wish I had some pictures of what it looked like before. Very sad.

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