Adaptive Reuse Profiles: Community Facilities


Property: St. Vitus Catholic Church
Location: Southwest Pilson, Chicago, Ill.
Project: Child Care and Community Center
Completion: 1994

NOTES: The former church at 18th and Paulina Streets is situated in a primarily Latino neighborhood.  In 1990 the Archdiocese closed the church, opening the space for reuse.  The community was rich in human resources but not so in economic resources.  The former parishioners enlisted the aid of Chicago non profit, Resurrection Project, Chicago Commons.  The community purchased the building for $10.; and raised $60,000 themselves, and were aided by $1.2M of outside assistance from corporations, foundations and businesses.

The child care facility operates on a sliding scale fee, serving the population of 6,000 children between 3 and 12 years of age living within 1/2 mile of the center.  The center also employs a staff of 22 teachers. (Chicago Tribune 10 Jan 1995)

Property: First Unitarian Church of Oakland, California
Location: Oakland, California
Project: The Center For Urban Family Life
Completion: 1994

Contact:
(415) 465-2220
Castro and 14th Streets

NOTES: Mission of the Center is to serve as a resource through which families can be nourished and empowered, and to enhance the quality of life and the integrity of the community.  Partnership between church and Center to plan, develop, coordinate, and implement services to families within and outside of congregation.  Center holds long-term lease defining relationship between the two.  Building renovation to include fire safety codes, accessibility, and reorganization of interior spaces, while maintaining the historic fabric of the building.  The renovation desired to provide facilities suitable for weddings, including bridal changing room, shower and lounge. 

Property: The Immaculate Heart of Mary Church
Location: Windthorst, Kansas (Eastern Ford County)
Project: Windthorst Heritage, Inc.

Contact:
Susan Rueb
Windhorst Heritage, Inc.
P.O.Box 475
Spearville, Kansas 67876
(316) 385-2326 or (316) 225-5037

NOTES: In July of 1997, the Diocese of Dodge City closed the church (founded in 1878), due to a low membership and a shortage of priests.  The former congregation established a non profit to care for the building, create a community social center, and to institute a German Heritage Museum.  Windhorst Heritage, Inc. hopes to raise the money needed to save the building from demolition. 


Property: Pearl Street Temple Emanuel Foundation, Inc.
Location: Denver, Colorado
Project: Temple Events Center Uptown
Completion: 1987

Contact:
Temple Event Center Uptown
1595 Pearl Street
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 860-9400

NOTES: A concert Hall, performing arts space, a place for large business meetings, or an elegant setting for a wedding.  Built in 1899 for a reformed Jewish congregation, the landmark building now has a new life.  The City of Denver purchased the building in 1986, and transformed the Moorish/ Gothic/ Italianate building into the Temple Events Center Uptown.  The main auditorium seats 900, the mezzanine 150; and a ballroom with kitchen facilities capable of a party of 300.  They maintained the original stained glass windows, and a 1911 Esty 27 rank pipe organ.