Historic Louisville KY Church Damaged in October 2024 Fire now Faces Demolition

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St. Paul's German Evangelical Church is an excellent example of Gothic Revival with influences from the English Perpendicular style. It is the design of Clarke and Loomis, an architectural firm of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Louisville which gained widespread local distinction for many ecclesiastical, residential and commercial designs.

St. Paul's is one of Louisville's oldest Evangelical congregations, organized in 1836 as the First German Evangelical Congregation of Louisville, Kentucky. They held meetings in a carpenter shop for the first three years of their existence, and in 1839 makes purchased a small brick Methodist church on Green St. (now Liberty) between Fourth and Fifth Streets. Finally, in 1841, the congregation had outgrown the small church building and a new one was constructed at Green and Preston streets. The congregation remained at this location, although the 1841 church was replaced with another in 1861, until the move in 1906 to their present location.

The lot on Broadway was purchased in 1905 and the firm of Clarke and Loomis was commissioned. The cornerstone was laid in May 1906 and the first service was held in the new church on October 1^st, 1906. The stained glass windows, alter, pulpit furniture, choir chairs, and the furniture for the Sunday School were given by members of the congregation as memorials. A mural on the front wall of the nave was executed by a member of the congregation, Nellie Schanzenbacher, in 1911. A painting by the same artist, dated 1931, hangs in the church.

The firm of Clarke and Loomis (Charles Clarke, 1836-1908; Arthur Loomis, 1859-1934) designed structures throughout the city in various styles and for various uses. Some of their most important works are Whiteside Bakery, Todd-Building, the Old University of Louisville Medical School, the Levy Brothers Building and St. Peter's German Evangelical Church. St. Paul's is among their finest designs. The rich ornamentation of the exterior surfaces is combined with the heavy massing of the towers to create an exceptional design. The interior space is unique to Louisville, with the axis turned on a diagonal; functionally excellent and aesthetically brilliant.

Long since vacant, a fire broke out in the church on October 9^th, 2024 and severely damaged the building. While the structure is salvageable, unfortunately the current owners, "Kentucky Medical Center Hotel", have been completely unresponsive and the building is considered abandoned and now faces demolition.

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Site Description

St. Paul's Evangelical Church is located at 213 E. Broadway in the central business district of Louisville. Located within a one block radius of the church are several historic structures, including the old Louisville Presbyterian Seminary (now the Jefferson Community College) and the Tyler-Muldoon House. Broadway is generally commercial in nature, but the blocks behind the church are the location of the medical hub of Louisville.

St. Paul's is a two-story brick structure with a stone facade. There are two entrances to the church from the facade, both through Tudor arches. The transoms of these doors are stained glass. A shallow bay with five stained glass windows is situated between the entrances. Directly above this bay is a large Perpendicular style stained glass window with flanking rectangular stained glass windows. This central bay is gabled with stone bands outlining the gable and topped by a finial. The eastern bay contains an entrance on the first floor, paired stained glass windows on the second and triple windows on the third, culminating at the roof level with crenelation. A small cupola formed of heavy stone carving is located on the southwest corner of the tower. Finials dot the parapet along the ridge of the crenelation. The western facade bay is the bell tower. It contains the entrance on the first floor, a single Perpendicular style window on the second and double, arched openings on the third level. The crenelated parapet is adorned with various finials and a cupola, similar to the one found on the eastern tower, located on the southeast corner of the tower.

The interior of St. Paul's has an unusual plan. The vestibule is flanked by the two facade entrances, but the main entrance to the nave of the church is not through the vestibule but rather from the west side entrance foyer. The floor slopes at a diagonal from the west entrance to the far east corner where the chancel is located. The pews are slightly curved in four rows at this diagonal. The ceiling is an irregular octagonal shape with cassoons. The center of the ceiling is oval and from the center of this oval hangs a large lighting fixture. The walls are very plain, with stained glass windows on both sides and a chair rail below that continues around all sides of the room. Windows from a room above the vestibule open into the nave, and doors from the vestibule also open into the nave. In the center of the front wall (to the left of the chancel) is a large door which can be cranked open to provide additional seating when needed.

This room, behind the nave of the church, is used for Sunday School classes. Along two walls are classrooms on two floors. The second-floor rooms have large windows which can be opened for viewing of the activities on the main floor. The floors in these second-floor rooms were at one time sloped for better viewing, but have been leveled and are currently used for office and class space. An addition was made to the east of this rear section of the building in 1916. It includes meeting space on the first floor and a gym on the second floor.

The Parish House is a two-and-one-half-story brick structure with a stone facade. There are two dormers; one is an eyebrow dormer and the other has a small parapet wall and finial, reflecting features found on the church facade. The second floor contains a pair of windows with a single sill and lintel, and a bay window. The single window on the first floor has a simple stone frame. The porch is wooden with classical columns. The entrance has double doors and a transom.

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