Abandoned Churches in Pittsburgh

My recent sojourn to Pittsburgh was primarily a baseball trip; however, I took a few hours to investigate some of my ongoing interests. Future blog posts will feature some of these investigations. This post, while substantial, still feels incomplete and I will more than likely return to the theme in the coming months.

The recent bankruptcy of Detroit has directed the public’s attention on the plight of urban areas, especially after the decline of an industrial sector. Detroit has experienced decay, depopulation and disassembling. Citizens have become demoralized and have pondered how to escape the seemingly inevitable downward spiral of decline and decay. What is notable is that Detroit is not the only city to have experienced this phenomenon. Other cities, such as Youngstown, Ohio and Camden, New Jersey, have experienced significant decline as well.

Recently, I have been reading Alice Mah’s Industrial Ruination, which is an examination of the artifacts, or “waste,” left behind from industrial societies. As Mah points out the ruins are not static – the empty and abandoned buildings are one state and will be repaired or demolished and rebuilt. Yet, for the residents of that city or town, the artifacts are often nostalgic reminders of what once was. In my explorations of Pittsburgh, I have found an interesting phenomenon that appears to be outside Mah’s analysis. Pittsburgh has had its setbacks and, although they are optimistic signs of its revitalization, a number churches in the city and surrounding areas have been left abandoned and derelict. Yet, many of the churches in Pittsburgh, architecturally, reflect a pre-industrial impulse. Given that many who worked in Pittsburgh’s factories were immigrants, the churches more than likely reflect memories of their homeland and pre-migration lives. What to do with these abandoned churches is a confusing and difficult problem for the city. Because they are architecturally different, and religiously significant, should the city and the community work harder to preserve them? My sentiment is to save these structures. Yet, how many can be?

St. Mary Magdalene Church in Homestead (July 2013)

St. Mary Magdalene Church – Standing across Amity Street from Frick Park, St. Mary Magdalene towers above the working class houses and other churches in Homestead. It was built in 1895-96 and served the working class families who moved to the area to work in local steel mills. After a fire in 1932, the church was substantially destroyed; it was rebuilt and re-opened in 1936. (There was yet another fire in 1977.) The decline of the steel industry in Homestead and Munhall resulted in a depopulation in both boroughs. In 1992, the Diocese of Pittsburgh decided to merge the parishes of Homestead and Munhall, including St. Mary Magdalene. Although originally slated to close, local residents petitioned to have St Mary Magdalene remain open as the new St. Maximilian Kolbe parish; however, the church was forced to close the building in 2009 as a result of financial pressures. The church is currently for sale.

The former St. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church

St. Peter and Paul Church – Situated in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, St. Peter and Paul Church was built in 1890. The church suffered a lighting strike and major fire in 1909 and was subsequently rebuilt. In 1992, the parish was merged with five other parishes and closed. In 1999, the church was featured in the Kevin Smith film, Dogma, starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Exploring the neighborhood, the church and rectory, on Larimer Avenue, still dominates the area and from a distance it stills looks impressive. The visual is helped because there are several empty blocks, presumably where houses have been demolished, in the vicinity of the vacant church. But up close, the church tells a different story. In recent months the church and rectory has been broken into, presumably by the homeless, and fires have been started in an effort to keep warm.

The front door to St. Peter and Paul in April 2013

While both of these churches currently stand empty, another former Catholic church has been reincarnated into one Pittsburgh’s most successful dining destinations. The former St. John the Baptist Church is now the Church Brew Work, an award winning microbrewery in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh at 36th and Liberty. The cornerstone of the church was laid in 1902; however, because of the reorganization of the Catholic Church in the early 1990s, John the Baptist was closed in 1993. In 1996, after a renovation, the building was reopened as the microbrewery. The restaurant and brewpub has saved the beautiful interior of the church making it a unique dining experience. Whether Mary Magdalene is repurposed in a way that saves its architectural legacy remains to be seen; however, time is running out on St. Peter and Paul. If someone does not do something with the church in East Liberty soon, there may be nothing left to salvage.