"St. Brigid Church is a cultural and architectural landmark in the Marina, Pacific Heights and Russian Hill neighborhoods. St. Brigid’s survived the 1906 earthquake, the great depression, two world wars – and an attempt by San Francisco’s Catholic archdiocese to demolish it. The Committee to Save St. Brigid Church was successful in landmarking the exterior of the building, including the beautiful stained glass windows imported from Ireland."
(Photo taken while stopped at a traffic light on Van Ness, February 2009 - I was struck by the beauty and intricacy of the facade.) 
5 comments:
Amazing that this beautiful church survived the earthquake of 1906, only to be slated for demolition for the church! Barbarians! Thank goodness for the people who saved it from that tragic fate.
I agree, Merisi.
I had no idea when I took the photo that I stumbled on to so much history and controversy. I'm so glad that those dedicated people too.
This is one of the most beautiful churches in San Francisco. I lived in "the City" during the height of the controversy. It would be great if St. Brigid's doors were opened once again. However, most of the inside has already been stripped of all the sacred art and treasures. So sad that their declining membership (and earthquake building codes) forced the closure.
As FA wrote, it was the very stringent San Francisco earthquake building codes, passed after the 1989 earthquake, that forced the diocese to take a hard look at the declining attendance in many of the parishes in San Francisco and weigh that with the cost of retrofitting. «Louis» doesn't recall the exact number, but some nine Catholic parishes were closed.
«Louis's» parish, St. Mark's Lutheran, San Francisco mirrors what the Catholic diocese had to do. St. Mark's was founded in 1849 at the site now occupied by Macy's west coast flagship store at Stockton and O'Farrell Streets. St. Mark's moved to its present location in 1897. In the 1906 earthquake and fire, most of the water mains in the city broke. As the fire advanced up the hill toward St. Mark's, firemen placed charges of dynamite around the church, planning to blow it up in an attempt to stop the westward advance of the fire. The Pastor pleaded with the firemen not to destroy the church, urging them to try the water main near the church. The Pastor's pleas almost came to blows. The firemen tried the main - it was unbroken, and St. Mark's was saved. The basement of the church served as a soup kitchen and infirmary for victims of the quake and fire. In the 1989 quake, St. Mark's actually suffered more damage than in the 1906 quake. The church went through an $11,000,000 restoration and earthquake retrofit. With that price tag for St. Mark's, you get some perspective on why the Catholic diocese took such a hard look at the retrofits required of them.
The organ at St. Mark's (installed during the restoration/retrofit) is modeled after the one played by J.S. Bach at St. Thomas Kirke, Leipzig.
More images of St. Mark's here.
For some reason, the second link for images of St. Mark's isn't working and a third one didn't post at all. Let's try again:
More St. Mark's images HERE and HERE.
Post a Comment