This Church in Ohio was destroyed by fire

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The congregation dwindled due to the construction of nearby interstate highways, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland closed the church in 1986. It was later deconsecrated. The friary and school suffered moderate damage on January 25, 1993, after a fire set by homeless people who sought shelter in the building got out of control. A second, much more severe fire (whether set by homeless individuals or vandals was unclear) occurred inside the church itself on February 15, 1993. A third fire on February 19, 1993, destroyed the remainder of the structure. The church was demolished on February 20.

Fortunately the stained glass had been removed prior to the fires.

This is the second oldest existing church in the city of Cleveland erected to serve a European immigrant community in its native language. It is a superlative example of the High Victorian Gothic style designed with unusual attention to European prototypes. The complex is also unusual because of the attached monastery structure and the architectural unity of the whole.

Services in a native language for members of a particular Roman Catholic nationality group were first held in Cleveland in the 1850s. Bishop Rappe, the first Bishop of Cleveland, was at first opposed to the institution of the distinctively German parish of St. Peter's, but was finally persuaded of the necessity. St. Joseph's German parish was organized in 1858, three years after the establishment of a school which was an offshoot of St. Peter's. A frame church was built in 1862-1863. In 1868 the Franciscan Fathers were assigned to take charge of the parish. They built a friary and chapel on the west side of 23^rd Street in 1868-1870. In 1871 the frame church was razed, and the cornerstone of the present church was laid. The newspaper account stated that the church would accommodate 1,250 persons and would cost about $90,000, and further that "this will be the first clerestory church ever built in this city." The structure was dedicated on October 5, 1873 by Bishop Gilmour. The steeple was not completed until 1899. In 1893 the new friary adjoining the church was erected, and the old monastery became a school and parish hall.

The architects of the church, Franz E, Cudell, and John N, Richardson, were a very active Cleveland firm in the 1870s and 1880s.

Building Description

This is a large church edifice of brick masonry construction in the High Victorian Gothic style. 66 feet by 145 feet in its exterior dimensions, connected to a monastery residence in the same style. In a parish history, the church is compared with the cathedral of Cologne. In spite of the obvious differences, what was meant is that this building has a basilican plan with an apse and clerestory, a monumental "westwork" which appears as if designed for two towers, and it was also an elaborate example of the "decorated" style. It is also worth remembering that the towers at Cologne were not completed until 1880. The facade has three entrances with Gothic arches and gables. Above each one there is a traceried Gothic window, but at present these are covered to prevent vandalism. The three-part facade, which faces south, rises to the full height of the clerestory level, and there is a central tower. There were tall pinnacles on all four corners of the facade westwork. The tall spire was completed twenty-six years after the church, in a slightly different form than the original sketch. The nave has six bays, articulated by engaged buttresses. At the sacristy entrance on the end of the side aisle there is a turret with a steeple.

The interior is a three-aisled hall with a tall aisle arcade, a blind triforium and a clerestory. The aisle is relatively wide in proportion to its height, and the four-part vaults form a grandly, simple ceiling. The applied columns, which carry the lines of the ribbed vaulting down to form clustered piers, represent the medieval Gothic structural system more accurately than many Gothic Revival buildings. The three-sided apse has tall clerestory windows which flooded the sanctuary with light.

Attached to the north end of the church is a long structure built as the monastery of the Franciscan friars. The two-story building has a center entrance on the west flank, and there are eight bays on either side of the entrance. The entrance bay is accentuated by a steep gable dormer, and there are two additional small dormers on the west. The elevations are articulated by piers and corbelling. The entrance has a modern stoop with a metal canopy.