2. St. Adalbert Church Complex - National Register Nomination

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 St. Adalbert Church Complex St. Joseph, IN Name of Property County and State Section 7 page 8 The church follows a gothic basilica plan (length: 180', width 100', height 75') with a vaulted nave and two side aisles. Each side aisle has four pointed arches. The aisles have four groin vaults. Modillions with angel faces support the ribs on the outer walls. There are four lancet stained-glass windows with decorative plasterwork in each aisle. In the nave spandrels, plasterwork winged angels hold a communion chalice and wafer. The triforium has quatrefoil plasterwork and niches with saint statues above each pointed arch. The interior ceiling has elaborate rib vaulting, with a spectacular stellar vault over the crossing. Above the crossing, a flèche rises to 110'. Between each vault is elaborate plasterwork in a pointed floral shape. The plasterwork throughout the church was executed by Meech, Arnold & Meech of St. Joseph, MI. The east end has a lower choir loft and upper organ loft. The organ loft railing is richly decorated with five niches filled with saint statues. Stained glass windows were added to the church in several stages as money was fundraised. The sanctuary clerestory windows are of the Seven Sacraments by Columbia Stained Glass Company in Milwaukee, WI. Although a contract was signed with Arthur Michaudel, Stained Glass Studio in Chicago, IL for 12 aisle lancet windows, 18 clerestory windows, 2 transept windows, 8 choir loft windows, and 1 large choir window for $20,108 in 1941, the glass was not installed until 1945-46 due to World War II. The clerestory stained-glass windows feature saints, while the massive north and south transept windows depict the Wedding of Cana and Christ Blessing Little Children, respectively. In 1947, an additional 4 tower windows were purchased from Michaudel Studios for $1,400. The final windows added were new versions of the original Seven Sacrament windows in the sanctuary by Michaudel Studios in 1948 at a cost of $4,200. The elaborate gothic main altar from the Chicago-based Bernhard Ferring Company features an anonymous painting of the Martyrdom of St. Adalbert. In front of the altarpiece, an icon of Poland’s national patroness Our Lady of Częstochowa can be raised and lowered with a pulley mechanism. In niches are statues of St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr (north) and St. John the Evangelist (south). Statues of angels flank a central niche beneath the altarpiece. All other canvas paintings in the church are by the Czech-born, Chicago-based artist John Mallin, well-known for his work in Chicago Polish churches. Rev. Aloysius Jarka commissioned 10 paintings from Mallin in 1940. Each transept has a large canvas painting by John Mallin, Labor Mural in the north and Holy Family with Sts. Zechariah, Anne, and John the Baptist, after Raphael in the south. In the sanctuary, there are six paintings by Mallin, from north to south: St. John Cantius after Tadeusz Żukotyński, St. Hedwig of Silesia, St. Casimir, St. Hyacinth, Immaculate Conception after Murillo, and Apparition of St. Andrew Bobola to Fr. Korzeniecki. At the east end of each aisle are paintings by John Mallin, on the north side Apparition of the Virgin to St. Stanislaus Kostka and the south side, Baptism of Christ, both from 1940. In 1950, the interior of the church was decorated by the John Kirsch Company of Milwaukee for $24,000. Felician Convent, 1962-64, Mid-Century Modern Gaul & Voosen, architects. The 1911 convent that was attached to the original church-school building was razed in 1974 after the completion of a new convent and chapel for the Felician Sisters. The structure was designed by Gaul & Voosen, a noted religious architecture firm, and cost $200,000. The convent