Internet Chatter

Part of the fun of the internet is seeing all of the neat places the Project pops up. Case in point: PhiladelphiaSpeaks, the generally worthwhile internet forum devoted to all things Philly. We actually list it as one of our "Other Sites of Interest" over there on the right.


The Project surfaced over there recently as a topic of conversation. That might explain why our ears were burning! But on a more serious note, it's always interesting and informative to see other people's impressions--especially those who wouldn't otherwise be drawn into the Project's family.

A couple of notes:

South Philly: Yes, we hate it. Not because it's a bad area, but because, as one member astutely pointed out, its church architecture is subpar. Plus, it's a real %!$#@ to traverse.

West Philly: No, we don't hate it. Driving around it isn't always fun, but its really stellar churches make any minor headaches worthwhile. Too bad they keep dropping like flies.

Interiors: As someone else noted, we started photographing interiors full time in Year 2, with Port Richmond's Our Lady Help of Christians. Camera problems prevented us from doing so in the first year.

Work in Progress: Not making as much progress as we used to, but enough said.

Churches that Aren't Churches Anymore: Now, this is interesting, if a little vague. It's true that we've only covered Christian denominations, but that's mainly because they're the only ones that really identify with the word and concept of "church." We're not the Philadelphia Synagogue Project or the Philadelphia Mosque Project, are we?

That said, if a church finds new life with one of those denominations, or even as something completely secular, we're not averse to checking it out. The fact that we haven't done so just means we haven't come across any yet.

Mailbag 10

Sorry for disappearing again. The Project was occupied managing a project of a different sort: a bachelor party! No, I can't tell you more. We have to maintain a certain decorum around here, after all.

Anyway, let's get back into the swing of things with an entry from the mailbag:

I came across your website when looking up info on the Catholic School, church, rectory, convent I went to when I lived in Philly from 1961 to 1965.

I can find no pictures of St Edwards and your listing of churches visited does not include that one.

Do any pictures exist? Does the church still exist? I looked around the net and as I said there is not much info?

I lived at 2527 N. 8Th Street at the time and I figure that since St. Edwards was turned into toast then the neighborhood must have went to Hell as well.

I went back up to Philly in 1986 (thought I might want to move back after my 1st divorce) and stayed with my Aunt and Cousin who lived in Ben Salem, Pa and they were so scared of going back there I didn't make it.

Sad... I was a altar boy there and I have vivid memories (and some nightmares) of going there for 4 years. Life was magic then. Going to Gimbles for Christmas. I reckon Gimbles is gone as well :( BTW, seeing nuns anywhere my left hand still hurts, as they didn't like me writing with my left hand ;)

Anyway thanks for giving this old southern boy (I was born in Florida) a glimpse into my past.

Keep up what y'all are doing

John Feilke

Lincolnton, North Carolina

St. Edward, formerly at 8th & York Streets in North-Centralish Philadelphia, was one of the more unfortunate victims of the North Philadelphia Swath of Destruction. In fact, that whole area pretty much just died, church-wise--St. Boniface and St. Bonaventure, as well as the now-demolished Our Lady of Mercy. All were exceptional church specimens. I've praised Germantown as being the best, but once upon a time, this section would have easily taken the cake.

The impressive St. Edward still stands, although it was Caveat Emptor'd into the Highway Temple of Deliverance some years ago. Lord only knows what alterations have been made in the interim, although a priest who has kept in touch with the new owners once told the Project that they had faithfully maintained what was left behind. Of course, he also promised to send me pictures and never did, so he's not the most credible of references.

The Project will hopefully find out for itself someday. It's a sketchy trip, to be sure, but nothing we haven't faced before. I'm not surprised that Bensalem residents didn't want to try, though. It's certainly not for the faint of heart--or milquetoast suburbanites.

Oh, and yes, Gimbels is long gone. But that's another story altogether.

Transfiguration Update

Thanks to Project reader Bill for forwarding us this excellent piece in today's Philadelphia Inquirer, "Mark Alan Hughes: The Church of the Transformation," which details the work done by Provenance Old Soul Architecture Salvage to save and reuse the remaining artistic treasures that remain within Transfiguration's doomed walls.


Not that there's much left, of course, as we've previously noted here. But aside from the remaining mosaics and tile work, Provenance is interested in literally anything they can get their hands on. Time is a factor, though. The Inky asserts that the complete demolition is imminent--not, as Project reader Joe Kearney reported, a slow and deliberate process. That means that Provenance won't have time to save all of that tile, and much of it will probably be reduced to rubble. Example:

It also creates an interesting dynamic, since Mr. Kearney reported that the Boys Latin Charter was interested in saving much of the raw material as well. Hrm, does the Project detect an archaeological race to death? Oh, if only our lives were that exciting.

Godspeed, Provenance. You have a mission that the Project appreciates and supports wholeheartedly.

Oh, and yes, I did promise an update on the demolition. Hopefully they'll still be something left when the Project heads over this weekend, but until then (courtesy again Mr. Kearney):

Catholic Contraction Continues

This week's announcement that Cardinal Dougherty and Northeast Catholic high schools would close at the end of the 2009-2010 school year should come as no surprise to anyone who has spent time following the Project's adventures. It's simply another example of the Catholic contraction within the city of Philadelphia--a steady, seemingly irreversible shrinkage of Roman Catholic institutions--churches, schools, religious orders, etc.

Now, yes, schools aren't generally the Project's concern, except where they directly impact the health of the churches we visit. But I bring this up because it's another stark example of the troubling trends the Project has witnessed since day one. And a clear message that our mission may be a hopeless one.

The temptation is to blame the Archdiocese, as we so often do, but in this case their hands may have been tied. Keeping an under-enrolled school open is not the same as keeping a church open. High schools need far more manpower and monetary resources to stay afloat, and that's just not something you can magically pull out of thin air.

These closures underline the essential problem--Philadelphia continues to be a place the middle class flees in droves. Sure, families aren't having 10 kids anymore, and schools that are built for that kind of procreation are bound for some adjustments no matter what they do.

But there are still enough kids to keep places like Dougherty and Northeast Catholic alive. Problem is, they're just not here. Witness last year's proud announcement that the Archdiocese would construct two sparkling new high school in Upper Providence and Hilltown. (An announcement that now leaves a very bitter taste in a lot of mouths.) Where are these towns? The Project would need help to find them on a map, but that's where the families and kids are, not Olney and Frankford. However dim the Archdiocese may be, they're bright enough to follow the money. And the old stalwarts suffer and die.

Sadly, I know these two won't be the last.

One final note: these closures do directly impact churches, since the families that do remain in the city are often drawn to certain areas because of the proximity to good schools like these. What will they do now that those options are now gone? Leave, probably. And that will absolutely hurt the local parishes. Olney's St. Helena, once the city's largest and a huge feeder for what was once the world's largest Catholic high school, will find it even harder to survive. Ditto for the bevy of parishes surrounding Northeast, including our beloved Church Alley, which has problems of its own these days.

Alumni of both schools are mobilizing frantically to try to mount preservation campaigns. The Project wishes them luck--it's tough losing a piece of your past. The Official Mother of the Philadelphia Church Project is actually a Dougherty alumna, and the closure has been hard on her. Even if they do pull off a miracle, it won't change a thing--without the people, these insitutions can't and won't survive in the long run.

Cherish your memories, and do all you can to preserve the things that made them possible. You never know when they'll be taken from you.

Rockin' it Old School

Tired of going to mass in English? Want to reconnect with Roman Catholic traditions from days of yore?

You're in luck.

From Project reader Michael Mezalick:

Just a note, St. Paul's in South Philly will be having a Latin Mass on October 25th.

St. Paul is the only church in the area and Center City to celebrate Latin Mass, while Overbrook’s Our Lady of Lords and Tacony’s Our Lady of Consolation offer it weekly.

Our Lady of Lourdes' Latin flair is well-known, but I suppose it's good to see St. Paul on the bandwagon as well. The Project isn't very concerned with ecclesistical matters, but we, as traditionalists at heart, have some respect for the practice--and efforts to keep it alive.

If interested, mark your calendars now.

When A Church Dies

Boy, the Project goes underground for a week and a half, and the church world starts crumbling around me.

Well, at least one part of it is. You remember West Philadelphia's sad, defunct Transfiguration of Our Lord? Of course you do. It's one of our churches that won't die, since it's one of a handful of parishes whose former parishioners still treat it with an almost obsessive reverence.

Except that now Transfiguration is really going to die. Or the building is, anyway.

Project reader Joe Kearney alerted to me to the fact that the Boys Latin of Philadelphia Charter School, now in its third year of operation in Transy's former school, is undertaking a wholesale demolition of the rest of the property's structures. The convent and rectory are gone, and they've now moved on to...the church itself.

Joe was kind enough to forward some of his own pictures on the subject:









The Project doesn't know when they'll finish--the laborers are allegedly "taking their time" with the demolition--but if any of you has any designs of seeing Transfiguration, now would be the time. I will try to stop by as well and contribute additional images.

This is an interesting phenomenon, since the Project has discussed and featured destroyed churches before, but we've never actually been around to see any demolitions firsthand. There's only one way to mark such a sad occasion:

Church Project Theorem #25: The End

Yes, I know we usually only do these during church recaps, but there's no better place and time than right here, right now. The End refers to the whole destruction of a church and its parochial property, usually after suffering through The Closer and The Long Goodbye, and being so unappealing that it can't be Caveat Emptor'd into something else.

The Long Goodbye is criminal in and of itself, so anything that ends it has to be good, right? Well, not really. It's sad to see a church rotting before your eyes, but the fact that it's still standing means there's still hope that it will eventually find new life, that it will be renovated and repurposed into something useful. The End, though, destroys those hopes with a cruel finality. While it's bad to see an empty church crumbling, it's somehow even worse to see a property and never know that it even existed.

Anyway, the Project will keep you posted. Stay tuned.