To the surprise of few and the chagrin of many, we now find ourselves in an era of wholesale church demolition. And we've lost some fabulous buildings in just the last few years, like the Pilgrim Congressional United Church of Christ in Fishtown, Saint Bonaventure in Fairhill, and New Hope Temple Baptist Church in Hawthorne. But all churches are not created equal, at least architecturally. Other structures have come down over time that, while their loss may sting their respective congregations, the building wasn't necessarily worth saving. We'd argue that a fine example of this would be the Bethel Gospel Tabernacle in Graduate Hospital, which was replaced by three homes.
That being said, even when a church doesn't fill your heart with architectural wonder, it's still a welcome sight to see it reused instead of torn down and replaced with something new and less interesting. And that's exactly what's happening at 1413 S. 20th St., long home to the Great Prophecy Spiritual Church. Developers bought the building about a year ago and are now in the process of converting it into a single family home.
One of the building's most prominent features was the funky red faux stonework on the southern facade but we see that's now being covered over by stucco. Also, there's a new roof deck that'll be accessed by a new pilot house that's visible from 20th Street. We're pleased because it appears that they're preserving the unusual door and window openings and the funky cornice, but we confess we're surprised they're not adding a whole additional story to the building.
The building isn't yet listed for sale, but with the speed at which homes are moving in Point Breeze these days we'd wager it won't be on the market for very long. We're hoping it'll be available for long enough for the developers to hold an open house so we can understand how they altered the church layout to make it work for a home. Or maybe the eventual buyer will be kind enough to give us a tour.