From Preservation Online, the online magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

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Fire Destroys Chicago Birthplace of Gospel Music


Story by Margaret Foster / Jan. 9, 2006

The Chicago church where Thomas A. Dorsey invented gospel music in the 1930s is gone. On Jan. 6, a fire destroyed the Pilgrim Baptist Church, designed by Louis H. Sullivan and Dankmar Adler in 1891.

The blaze originated from the church's roof, which was in the process of being repaired. Four firefighters sustained minor injuries.

Built as a synagogue in 1891, the Romanesque revival structure became a baptist church in 1922. Dorsey (1899-1993), the father of gospel, served as the church's music director for more than 50 years. It became a city landmark in 1981.

Only three exterior walls remain after the fire, but some people say it's possible to reconstruct Pilgrim Baptist Church, using photographs and molds of the interior terracotta ornamentation.

"Given enough money, it could be replicated," says David Bahlman, executive director of the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois. "Public sentiment today, via e-mail, is resoundingly in favor of rebuilding." Still, he says, "We don't know what the structural situation is of these three elevations that still stand. There are a lot of questions at this point."

Because the aging church needed $2.8 million in urgent repairs, the nonprofit Partners for Sacred Places named it one of Ten Sacred Places to Save in 2001. The group reported on its Web site that the Pilgrim Baptist Church's roof and interior downspouts leaked, causing water damage to the interior molding, which "has fallen onto the choir area."

Bahlman, who visted the church several years ago, says it was in good condition. "It was like a lot of 100-year old churches, where you have dwindling congregations and not a lot of money to keep things looking perfect," he says.

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