Chicago Temple Building

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Chicago Temple Building
Chicago Temple Building.jpg
General information
Location Chicago, Illinois, USA
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Construction started 1923
Completed 1924
Height
Roof 173 m (568 ft)
Technical details
Floor count 23
Design and construction
Architect Holabird & Roche

The Chicago Temple Building is a 173 meter (568 foot) tall skyscraper church located at 77 W. Washington St. in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is home to the congregation of the First United Methodist Church of Chicago. It was completed in 1924 and has 23 floors dedicated to religious and office use. It is the tallest church building in the world, although Ulm Minster is the tallest church in the world.

The congregation was founded in 1831 and built a log cabin on the north bank of the Chicago River in 1834. In 1838, it moved the cabin across the river to the corner of Washington and Clark Streets.[1] The current structure was completed after a debate within the congregation whether the church should remain in central Chicago or sell its valuable property and relocate to the growing suburban areas.[2]

It was the tallest building in Chicago from 1924 until 1930, when it was surpassed by the Chicago Board of Trade Building. This claim included the height of the steeple to maintain the title over the 35 East Wacker Building which opened in 1927.[3][4]

The building is constructed on a steel frame faced with limestone and is designed in the neo-gothic style by the firm of Holabird & Roche. During planning and construction, the building was called City Temple, however by the time of completion, the name was changed to Chicago Temple.[1]

The building houses three sanctuaries:

  • Sanctuary 1 is 4 stories tall on the ground floor with seating available for 1,000 people.
  • Sanctuary 2 is also known as the "Dixon Chapel" and is on the 2nd floor.
  • Sanctuary 3 also known as the "Sky Chapel" is the smallest sanctuary and is situated at the base of the steeple with seating for 30 people.

The Sky Chapel was created in 1952 as a gift from the Walgreen family in memory of Charles Walgreen founder of the drugstore chain bearing his name.[2] At 400 ft (120 m) above ground level, it is considered the world's highest worship space and contains 16 stained glass windows. Four depict scenes from the Old Testament, four from the life of Jesus, four represent the history of the Christian Church in the Old World, and the final four the church in the New World.[5] The carved wood altar-front depicts Jesus looking over the city of Chicago (specifically a view from the top of the church building in 1952), mirroring the front of the sanctuary altar, which shows Jesus looking over Jerusalem.

Floors 5 through 21 of the building are rented office space with one residential area which is used by the Methodist church's senior pastor as a parsonage, occupying the three floors of the spire, just below the Sky Chapel. The 6th floor of the building once held the office of Clarence Darrow, the famous trial attorney.

A fictionalized version of the building is one of the settings in Charles Merrill Smith's Father Randollph detective series, where the title character is the senior pastor resident in the skyscraper's parsonage.

The congregation is approximately 60% white, 16% black, and maybe 20% Asian[citation needed] and the remainder mixed. Bread is broken every other week and the diversity in the church is recognized and accepted as a modern church.[citation needed] It had its roots on John Wesley's teaching.

The temple is located at the southeast corner of Clark and Washington Street across from the Richard J. Daley Center which houses offices for the offices for the city of Chicago and Cook County courts and the Chicago Picasso. Due to its proximity to the Cook County and US District Courts, the majority of the building's tenants are attorney's firms. A sculpture entitled Miró's Chicago by Joan Miró occupies a courtyard between the Chicago Temple and the adjacent George Dunne Cook County Building.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Preceded by Tallest building in the United States outside of New York City
1924—1930
173 m		 Succeeded by
Terminal Tower
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