St. Bonaventure Revealed

The late, great St. Bonaventure has bedeviled many an urban explorer. Its decayed grace just beckons tantalizing to all who pass it, but the inaccessibility of the owners--whoever they are--puts the kibosh on almost all explorations. And sure, the building isn't exactly ironclad anymore, but who wants to go breaking into an old church in the middle of Fairhill? No one I know.

Yet, somehow, Project reader Rob M. found a way. And he's kindly shared the spoils of his voyage.

So how about an interior peek at everybody's favorite Badlands relic?

!%@$# yeah!

























Great photos, especially if all you've ever seen of this place are black-and-white historical images.

Two thoughts come to mind:

One, again, what's interesting is what the Archdiocese left behind. Vestments? Diplomas and trophies? Seriously? You couldn't be bothered to take that with you? And what's with leaving the clerestory windows?

Two, this place looks surprisingly good. I mean, sure, I wouldn't want to go have a romantic picnic here, or pitch a tent and spend the night. But for a church that has not seen literally one iota of human care in 18 years, St. Bonaventure looks pretty damn good. Some of the paintwork is still so bold and bright--especially in the side aisles--that it's almost hard to believe it's been vacant for so long.

This place looks 10 times better than poor Assumption BVM, which looks like it had a neutron bomb set off in its interior. It looks better than the last interior St. Boniface pictures I saw.

Hell, in many ways it doesn't look much worse for wear than Ascension of Our Lord. If I put pictures side by side, would you be able to tell which was the vacant parish and which was the active one? The answers wouldn't come so easily, I think.

I have no idea what the structural state is, but I doubt it's worse than Assumption. If they can skirt the wrecking ball (and signs are good), this place can, too. It's just a shame Fairhill is so far away from any sort of love.

Mailbag 29: Church Alley Update

That's right! Time for an update from the Project's favorite place, from an anonymous source "in the know," so to speak.

I recently discovered your site, and I am a huge fan! I'm a parishioner at St. Adalbert. I know you really enjoyed St. Adalbert- did you know St. Adalbert is the patron saint of Poland? I'm not sure if that explains why it's more ornate than some of the other ethnically Polish churches, but it's an interesting fact nonetheless.

More likely they had more money and ambition. But yeah, fun fact.

I also wanted to give you an update on the other parishes on Allegheny Avenue, or "Church Alley" as you called it. Nativity B.V.M. and Our Lady Help of Christians have been twinned, with all the priests living at Nativity's rectory. OLHC is still having Masses, and one of the bishops (I forget which one) recently moved into the OLHC rectory. All three are amazing churches- Port Richmond is lucky to have them!

We reported on the twinning a while back. It's good to hear things are plugging along, administrative changes notwithstanding; I'd hate for anything bad to happen to my favorite seven-block radius.

I know you also visited Mother of Divine Grace. There used to be a beautiful painting behind the altar that was replaced by the crucifix in the 1990s. I know this because my grandparents donated the money to buy the crucifix from Italy. You know there are too many churches in your neighborhood when your grandparents who live in the same neighborhood belong to a completely different parish, but that's Port Richmond for you.

Part of the charm of the place, yes. Something you didn't see very often even back in the day, and something you certainly won't ever see again.

I wonder what happened to said painting--I don't remember seeing it during my *memorable* visit there a few years back. And no, I'm not curious enough to go and find out.

Have you thought about visiting St. George in Port Richmond? I haven't been there since I was a kid so I don't remember too much about what it looks like, but it's definitely unique in that the church is on the 2nd floor and the parish school is below it. I'm not sure there are many other churches like that around here, so it might be worth a visit.

Thoughts, yes. Plans, no. Barring some bizarre set of circumstances, I don't see it happening. Then again, stranger things have happened.

St. Mark -- Rittenhouse Square

Boom goes the dynamite.

St. Mark -- Rittenhouse Square