Assumption Catholic Church, Chicago
[Assumption Catholic Church (1886) Giuseppe Beretta, architect /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
The subtitle of this post might read, "The little church that could." Built in 1886, Assumption Italian Roman Catholic Church survived as a parish without parishioners because of a determined pastor and a steady stream of faithful worshipers.
[Assumption Catholic Church, 321 W. Illinois Street, Chicago /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
The church and parish got off the ground in 1880 when a Servile priest Sosteneus Moretti purchased a plot of land on Illinois street, just north and east of the Chicago River. Back then the area was a mix of working class residential housing with some commercial and industrial properties thrown in, especially close to the river's edge. Moretti wanted to build a church that would serve Chicago's growing Italian community and have the non-Latin portions of the Roman Catholic mass said in Italian. At the time many, if not most Catholic churches conducted services in their local immigrant community's native tongue, but nothing existed for native Italian speakers. If there was such a thing. The country we know today as Italy didn't even exist until the 1860s, and many "Italian" immigrant identities were defined by the region they came from, not by their country. Plus, regional dialects could be so different that one "Italian" might not understand what their fellow countryman was saying. Moretti looked past all these dissimilarities and was able to unite the disperse local community around the similarity of their shared Italian culture, and jump-start his church.
[Assumption Catholic Church, Chicago /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
Money was raised, and in 1881 a foundation and basement was dug, a roof put over it, and services began. The parish thrived, and in 1886, architect Giuseppe Beretta's church building, with its prominent bell tower, rose up over the neighborhood. For the next 10 years, if you wanted to attend a Catholic mass where the priest said the homily in Italian, this was the place to come to. But with the establishment of other Italian-based parishes, and a neighborhood that became almost exclusively commercial and industrial, Assumption needed to look for worshipers who might not necessarily be parishioners to keep the ball rolling.
In 1938, Father Thomas Ferrazzi was made pastor of the struggling church and he came up with an idea to help insure Assumption's survival. Market yourself to the thousands of workers who flooded into the neighborhood every day to labor in the nearby factories. It worked for a while, but by 1954 the jig was up. Assumption now found itself worshipper challenged as manufacturers left the city for the suburbs, and then discovered that the church had been included in a master plan calling for the demolition of the building and the surrounding block, to make way for the $400 million Fort Dearborn development. Father Ferrazzi started Friends of Assumption and began a campaign to raise money to save the church.
Needless to say, it worked. And by 1973, Pastor Ferrazzi was able to once again make his claim that this was a church without a parish, but overflowing with worshippers. Today the bell tower, once the tallest structure in the area, is hard to find among the high-rises of the now chic, River North neighborhood. And with all the loft conversions and the construction of muilt-story apartment buildings nearby, a new group of residents - and parishoners.
See one of the new, nearby residential towers at: Erie on the Park.
Posted by designslinger at 1/18/2012 3:10 AM 
Categories: Architecture, History
Tags: Giuseppe Beretta River North churches
Categories: Architecture, History
Tags: Giuseppe Beretta River North churches
What was the $400 million Fort Dearborn development and what came of it?
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It was huge. Proposed by then mayor Martin Kennelly in 1954, the project encompassed 151 acres extending from the main branch of the Chicago to Ontario Street, and the north branch of the river to Rush Street. The plan called for the creation of a new government administration center, 5,000 new units of apartment housing, and the new campus of the Chicago branch of the University of Illinois. What happened to it? Well, perhaps it had something to do with the fact that in 1955 Richard J. Daley beat the incumbent mayor in a bitter, nasty, hard fought Democratic primary. Priorities must have changed because the project just kind of died away. City, county and state government stayed-put around City Hall. A new county courthouse was built in 1965 under Daley, and was even named in his honor after his death. And of course, U of I ended up on the near west side. But apartment housing did blossom in the area, though it took another 30+ years. And the changes didn't occur as part of a wholesale leveling of the neighborhood, but inch by inch, building by building, and it all came with a new name, River North. Invented by the real estate industry, not the city.
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Would you have access to any older photographs of the church. I am chairman of the Finance council at Assumption and we are beginning some restoration projects and the photos would be helpful. Thanks
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Unfortunately, no. Didn't come across any older pics doing research. Maybe the Archdiocese has some in storage somewhere?? And best of luck with your resotration projects!
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