The Dream

The Saint Boniface Church located in West Chicago on the corner of Chestnut St and Noble St is considered among many Chicagoans to be a Historical Landmark. Built in 1903 by famous Chicago Church Architect, Henry J. Schlacks, the structure combines architectural styles from Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance deigns.  This assimilation of various periods into one building coincides perfectly with the myriad of Catholic immigrants including German, Polish, and Irish who were it’s first members.  Throughout it’s history, the Church transformed from dominantly Polish members to Latino.  The Church’s first mass was held shortly after construction on June 5th, 1904.  The final mass was held on June 3rd, 1990.  After the closing of the church it was made into a warehouse, but due to inadequate boarding of the building, in 1997 it was deemed even too deteriorated for that.  In the Summer of 1999, SAIC Grad Students prepared a paper on the “Adaptive Reuse Study for Saint Boniface,” however it yielded no realistic results.  In 2010, after extensive fighting between the archdiocese and the community regarding demolition of the Church, the building was sold to IPM (Institutional Project Management), a company dedicated to combine the desires for restoration with realistic usage to bring about success.  Recent projects the company has completed include the Spertus building on S. Michigan Ave.  IPM’s plan for the Saint Boniface Church is to turn it into a 75-unit housing for seniors.  Unfortunately, this means that much of the Church, including it’s beautiful 52 foot arched ceilings and grand altar will be demolished.  As of today, the building stands largely in ruins, crumbling before our very eyes. “Our buildings contain our history,” and that is one of the many reasons why documentation of this architectural splendor pre-demolition is important and necessary.  If it is true that buildings tell a story, then Saint Boniface’s needs to be told one last time and this story can only be told thru a series of photographs.