 | |
 | |
 |  |
 |
|
|||||||
|
|
|
Immaculate Conception Church, one of Chicago's oldest parishes, was established in 1859, At that time, there were two other Catholic parishes nearby - Holy Name Church, now the cathedral for the Archdiocese of Chicago, and St. Michael's. Many North Siders during that era were German, and so were these parishes. Immaculate Conception was set up as the first Catholic Church in the area for English-speaking parishioners, who for the first hundred years of the parish history, were primarily Irish. In 1871, a catastrophe signaled a decisive pattern in the parish's life, one of slow and steady comebacks: the Great Chicago Fire burned down the original church, convent and school. On August 9, 1874, Bishop Foley laid the cornerstone of a new brick church that was completed four years later, at a cost of seven thousand dollars. It was a church of bold straight lines, conveying strength and elegance. Its chapel possessed a lovely and dignified scope. A three-story school adjoining the church was added to the north. And a towering steeple was added, surmounted by a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Restoration was complete. In the following years, the parish continued to grow, and at the turn of the century the church became an especially capable sanctuary when World War I and then the Depression pushed many to the edge. After World War II, Pastor John Fleming initiated plans for a convent and a new school. Enrollment was zooming and the old school building, after decades of service, was ready for the wrecking ball. Architect Thomas E. Cooke designed the brick school and convent complex that stands on the site today, and ground was broken in the spring of 1951. Classes were begun there in the autumn of 1952. In May of 1953, Cardinal Stritch dedicated Immaculate Conception School.
Fortunately many articles from the church were transferred to a true Godsend of a place - the basement auditorium of the school complex Tom Cooke had designed. It was pressed into service as a chapel. This was to be the church's new home. Mass is still said in that basement chapel. The room possesses an austerity, which makes it deeply inviting to the grace of the Holy Spirit and the celebration of the Mass. The statue of the Virgin Mary, once knocked down by lightning from its perch atop the steeple of the old church, sits in the foyer of the chapel. The statue stands as a symbol of the struggle for re-adjustment and persistent and enduring faith, which has come to characterize the life of the parish over its history. Condensed from "Immaculate Conception Church: A Chronicle of Charitable Tenacity" by I.C. parishioner Dan Ursini
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
 |
|
|||||||
STAFF
Long-time members of I.C. say that the biggest event, and most sorrowful experience in the history of the parish was the tearing down of the old church. In 1957, a routine inspection of the church found the roof was on the verge of collapse. This discovery followed on the heels of a tragedy at another Chicago parish, Our Lady of the Angels School, where a roof had collapsed during a fire and ninety-eight people perished. Nobody will ever know how much physical strain the beams of the church at IC could bear. But it might be said that they were not strong enough to bear the burden of anxiety that people had as a result of the Our Lady of the Angels School catastrophe. Archbishop Albert E. Meyer decided that the church had to come down.
