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Chicago Sun Jul 26 2009
Saint Boniface Is a Danger to Residents
...not a project for preservationists or some sort of symbol of the Archdiocese's spite.
Two years ago (almost exactly) I wrote this about Saint Boniface church:
Saint Boniface -- the saint, not the long-abandoned church at the northeast corner of Noble and Chestnut on the city's near northwest side -- was a German saint. He was a high-ranking official in the Church who had converted and grown Catholicism throughout much of Germany before a group of as-yet unconverted heathens fell upon him and 52 of his fellow travelers on the banks of the River Borne.
Well, good for him, but seriously, can we do something about this church? For those of us who live in its very near vicinity, Saint Boniface causes no little consternation. For years, crackheads and meth addicts lived in the rectory north of the church. Local hoods use the church as a staging ground for breaking into cars and homes, since it constitutes nearly an entire city block without prying eyes. The convent which once stood east of the building, on Chestnut, is now a pile of bricks, recalling something more like Beirut in 1986 than Chicago in 2007.
The need to preserve this beautiful and historical building needs to be balanced with the economic and physical safety of local residents. This morning, we woke up to a scary surprise. This:
Clearly, if somebody had been in the car, or walking by, they could have been seriously injured or just as likely killed. Killed by the neglect of the Archdiocese and inaction by the city. This is unacceptable. A buildings department official was on the scene to make a report. Let's see what the city does.
Dennis Fritz / July 26, 2009 3:21 PM
I assume St. Bonfice Church is no longer being used for religious services.
The best way to deal with problems like those you describe is to use the property for some other purpose (or purposes). I went to grade school at St. Henry's on Granville and Hoyne. The school is now defunct. However, Truman college leases space in the building for ESL classes, Loyola has tranformed the vacant lot accross the street into a practice field, and a Vietnamese Catholic Church occupies the church space.
Turning a vacant space into a multi-use space wasn't easy. It required reaching out to various local organizations and took years. But it is usually the best way to prevent the kind of choas you're describing.