St. Louis Church is one of the many forgotten churches of Wisconsin that has faded away from time. Not too many people know the whereabouts on the St. Louis Church in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. This news article will explain the history of St. Louis Church. This news article will also explain how too many renovations, modifications, remodels, and additions can effect the historical integrity of buildings.
St. Louis Church has had a long history in Fond du Lac. The French speaking Catholics formed their own church congregation in 1868. However they did not own a church building but rented one instead. Church services were held using the French language instead of the English language. Holy Family Parish owned the church.
Construction began on the church building and was finished in 1871. This church is an example of Gothic Revival architecture with limestone walls, Gothic-arched openings, and two towers located upfront at the main entrance. On top of the Gothic-arched openings are tall steeple roofs. Most recognizable features are the limestone walls, gothic-arched openings, and the two massive towers. The two towers were finished later in 1891, decorated with stepped buttresses. The two towers were located upfront at the main entrance.
A school was established and constructed in 1957. The school wrapped around the east end of the original church building. Multiple changes and modifications were made to the east end of the church at that time to accommodate the addition.
Many modifications among other changes were also made to St. Louis Church over the years. For instance, the stairs in the towers received modification. Installation of aluminum framed doors were made. Certain areas had ramps installed to make the church handicap accessible.
Holy Family Parish vacated the church in August 2005 when they moved to a newly constructed facility. The buildings stood vacant for 10 months. Concerns had been raised regarding the structural integrity and the adaptability of the church building for future uses.
Excel Engineering was commissioned in June 2006 to provide architectural, historical surveying, and engineering services to address specific issues to the original church building. Surveyors found during the historical surveying that the amount of modifications made over the years hurt the historical integrity of St. Louis Church. Historical significance did not save this building due to the amount of modifications made over the years.
The building was purchased by Dave Haase, owner of Attitude Sports, in 2006. Dave Haase had the intention of turning the building into a business. However those intentions came to a halt when a fire started in the church during the remodeling process on the date of Monday, March 19, 2007. The cause of the fire was never determined. This could have been a mindless act of arson or faulty electrical wiring. Since then, both the church and school have been razed.
St. Louis Church was located in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, US.
St. Louis Church is an example of how too many renovations, modifications, remodels, and additions can effect the historical integrity of buildings. Too many modifications what hurt the historical integrity of this particular church building. Modifications are what hurt this building. For example, this would hurt the building’s chance of being eligible to be register on the National Register of Historic Places or meet NRPH requirements and guidelines.
Modifications are what also hurt structural integrity from a historic point of view. Modifications to buildings over 100 years old are not necessarily the brightest idea due to aging and safety. Aging and safety are key issues of structural integrity. Historical significance did not save this building due to the amount of modifications made over the years.
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