23 replies to this topic

[krazeeboi]

Show some examples of the adaptive reuse of churches or other religious structures in your city/metro.

[tombarnes]

Here's an example from New Orleans....Christian's Restaurant.  The name reflects the owners, and not necessarily the former use of the building, a former Lutheran church.


       Christian's Restaurant

[dgreco]

^doesn't seem private, but it looks like it would be awesome for a private party or banquet.

[tombarnes]

I haven't been there in years, but I do remember that it was a decent restaurant.

[FromCityToRural]

Boy, it would be sacrilege here to use a curch for ANYTHING but being a church; it just wouldn't fly here.

For anyone who watches The Shield, I thought it was interesting how they use a church (styled after a real church in the LA area) as a police station. Something about an adobe cross over where the detectives work makes for a great juxtaposition.

[Mith242]

I don't have pics ready but up in Bentonville they've converted an old church into a restaurant as well.  Here in Fayetteville they've converted a Catholic church into some condos.

[krazeeboi]

Here are the ones I have.

This is the former Bethel AME Church in downtown Columbia, SC, now serving as the home of the Bethel Cultural Arts Center:




These are a few from uptown Charlotte.

The former East Avenue Tabernacle Associate Reformed Presbyterian (ARP) Church, now home of the Great Aunt Stella Center events venue:



The former home of the Little Rock AME Zion Church, now home of the Afro-American Cultural Center (until it moves into new dibs as part of the Wachovia complex now under construction):





The former home of First Baptist Church, now McGlohon Theatre at Spirit Square Center for Arts & Education:



McColl Center for Visual Art, formerly First ARP Church:

[suburban george3]

There's an old church in Pittsburgh that's now a night club.  I think it's called "The Altar."  

Someone will have some explaining to do at the pearly gates...  

[rnc]

suburban george3, on Jan 16 2007, 12:32 AM, said:

There's an old church in Pittsburgh that's now a night club.  I think it's called "The Altar."  

Someone will have some explaining to do at the pearly gates...  

A popular restaurant in Lexington, KY, is an Italian place called Joe Bologna's.  It was a Presbyterian church in the 1800s, then became a Jewish temple in the early 1900s.  They kept all the old stained glass windows and the bar area is where the pulpit was at one time.  Ironically, it is one of the biggest family restaurants in town.

[TheGerbil]

Pittsburgh has a number of reused churches and synagogues besides the already mentioned night club. Some have been turned into living space or schools, for instance.

A favorite of mine is this community center/coffee shop: http://www.unionproject.org/Home

Then there's one that was turned into a brewery/restaurant. Here's a pic I found on Google: http://www.bibula.co...BrewWorks_2.jpg

(I'll just link it since it's a large pic)

[dgreco]

that seems cool, i still feel infy about putting other things into a church, but atleast they look nice.. I liek the cafe though.

[mcheiss]

One church in my area has been turned into the Sanctuary, which is one of the top class restaurants with an exclusive wine bar.

Another in Fayetteville's downtown has been convirted into a loft/condo project that has been rather successful.

[suburban george3]

suburban george3, on Jan 16 2007, 01:32 AM, said:

There's an old church in Pittsburgh that's now a night club.  I think it's called "The Altar."  

Someone will have some explaining to do at the pearly gates...  

I'm going to be in Pittsburgh all week this week, I'll try to snap a pic of this one while I'm up there...

[seicer]

One of the churches in Lexington, Kentucky was reused as the Joe Balogna's restaurant along Maxwell Street. The interior features a 'loft' seating area which is quite nice.

Another disused church on Upper Street is a church clothing drive setup. It will be demolished soon, however.

[GRDadof3]

Old churches have a lot of beautiful features like arched stonework, soaring ceilings, mezzanines and balconies, that can really be adapted into some cool spaces.  Especially with inner-city churches losing membership to the suburban mega-churches, they create some great opportunities for redevelopment.

Not in our metro, but some others I found a couple of months ago doing some research:

Church to condos in the UK














Chicago condo




Hobbs + Black Architecture in Ann Arbor, MI

[ItalMG]

Here in Providence, the Rhode Island School of Design has used an old church on Benefit Street as their mailroom and painting studios for years.  Sorry I can't find a better picture of it:



http
://playground.dailyjolt.com/~risd/diso...p-imgs/p30.jpg



The central nave has served as one of the nicest studios on campus...

In the shoreline town of Niantic, CT, private owners have turned an old church into a Bed and Breakfast:



http://www.14lincoln....com/index.html


And a few miles away from that, in the village of Flanders, they turned a tiny Catholic Chapel into a hair salon called That Look...

[krazeeboi]

That UK example is pretty funky; I dig it.

[Pillsbury]

For many years, downtown Augusta was unique in that it had three rather large Catholic churches all within a few blocks of each other.  It also had a downtown Catholic school and a Jesuit college.    By the 30s and 40s, however, downtown had lost its luster.  Even then people were flocking to the suburbs.  Most of the wealthy had long since fled to an area known as the Hill--about three miles from downtown.   Due to the exodus (especially of the wealthy parishioners) the downtown churches kept decreasing in size, until in the 70s, the Diocese decided to close Sacred Heart, and send those parishioners to Most Holy Trinity (a larger parish formerly known as St. Patrick's).   By the 80s, this once gorgeous church was on the verge of being demolished.   A  local family was so horrified at the loss of Sacred Heart, that they bought the church from the Diocese, promising to care for the structure as if it was still a Church.  Today, the sounds of the Symphony, local Choral groups, various church choirs, weddings, receptions, proms, and balls are held in this structure.   It is an imposing structure coming into Augusta from the west.  These photos do it no justice---it is the prettiest Catholic church in the state of Georgia (yes, I'm including the St. John the Baptist in Savannah).

Edited by Pillsbury, 26 January 2007 - 12:20 PM.

[suburban george3]

suburban george3, on Jan 22 2007, 02:11 AM, said:

I'm going to be in Pittsburgh all week this week, I'll try to snap a pic of this one while I'm up there...

Here ya' go...





I tried to find some inside pics, but they all were pretty much of the party crowd and not the building..

[Pillsbury]

^ That's just wrong!!!  

Of course, Atlanta has the Tabernacle, which shows everything from Phish and Widespread Panic to Slipknot and Manson.  Oh I bet the old preacher would love the Manson show:

Edited by Pillsbury, 29 January 2007 - 11:46 AM.