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Nov 1, '07 5:00p

100th anniversary of the laying of the church cornerstone

J. Winthrop Aldrich, the state’s deputy commissioner for historic preservation, will be on hand Nov. 1 for the presentation of the official landmark designation certificate on the front steps of the church following a Mass.

Corpus Christi Catholic Church to hail landmark status

East Side church also plans to celebrate anniversary

By Jay Tokasz NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 10/22/07 8:58 AM

Now parishioners of the Romanesque revival-style church at Clark and Kent streets plan to celebrate.

They figure the 100th anniversary of the laying of the church cornerstone would be as good a time as any.

J. Winthrop Aldrich, the state’s deputy commissioner for historic preservation, will be on hand Nov. 1 for the presentation of the official landmark designation certificate on the front steps of the church following a Mass.

Corpus Christi is only the third Catholic church in Western New York to be listed on the National Register, joining Blessed Trinity on Leroy Avenue and Our Lady Help of Christians chapel on Union Road in Cheektowaga.

The state and federal recognition confirms the significance of churches such as Corpus Christi, not just to their members, but also to the larger culture of the region, said the Rev. Anzelm Chalupka, pastor.

“It’s important that people know on the East Side we have beautiful diamonds,” said Chalupka, part of the Pauline Fathers and Brothers community that runs the church.

The Paulines took over its operation in 2004, following the departure of the Conventual Franciscan Friars, who no longer had enough priests available to staff the parish they founded in 1898.

Construction of the current church, built of Onondaga limestone faced with red Medina sandstone, began in 1907 and was completed in 1909, at a cost of $200,000, according to church records.

“You’re never going to see a building built like this again, in terms of a church,” noted Bill Koch, a local preservationist and past president of the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier. “The artwork on the inside really stands alone. It’s magnificent.”

Members of the traditionally Polish parish have long admired the rendering of Raphael Santi’s famous Disputa in the sanctuary apse and highly decorative stained-glass windows fashioned by the Franz Mayer Works in Munich, Germany.

Church members and preservationists began pursuing the state and federal designations last year — in part to open new doors for obtaining restoration grant funding.

The church is trying to raise money for masonry work on its towers and for a new roof.

The designations site the entire Corpus Christi Church campus, which includes a rectory, school building, convent and parish hall.

State officials added Corpus Christi to the list of state landmarks in June. A month later, the buildings were named to the National Register of Historic Places.

jtokasz@buffnews.com

Corpus Christi Catholic Church to hail landmark status

East Side church also plans to celebrate anniversary

By Jay Tokasz NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 10/22/07 8:58 AM

Now parishioners of the Romanesque revival-style church at Clark and Kent streets plan to celebrate.

They figure the 100th anniversary of the laying of the church cornerstone would be as good a time as any.

J. Winthrop Aldrich, the state’s deputy commissioner for historic preservation, will be on hand Nov. 1 for the presentation of the official landmark designation certificate on the front steps of the church following a Mass.

Corpus Christi is only the third Catholic church in Western New York to be listed on the National Register, joining Blessed Trinity on Leroy Avenue and Our Lady Help of Christians chapel on Union Road in Cheektowaga.

The state and federal recognition confirms the significance of churches such as Corpus Christi, not just to their members, but also to the larger culture of the region, said the Rev. Anzelm Chalupka, pastor.

“It’s important that people know on the East Side we have beautiful diamonds,” said Chalupka, part of the Pauline Fathers and Brothers community that runs the church.

The Paulines took over its operation in 2004, following the departure of the Conventual Franciscan Friars, who no longer had enough priests available to staff the parish they founded in 1898.

Construction of the current church, built of Onondaga limestone faced with red Medina sandstone, began in 1907 and was completed in 1909, at a cost of $200,000, according to church records.

“You’re never going to see a building built like this again, in terms of a church,” noted Bill Koch, a local preservationist and past president of the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier. “The artwork on the inside really stands alone. It’s magnificent.”

Members of the traditionally Polish parish have long admired the rendering of Raphael Santi’s famous Disputa in the sanctuary apse and highly decorative stained-glass windows fashioned by the Franz Mayer Works in Munich, Germany.

Church members and preservationists began pursuing the state and federal designations last year — in part to open new doors for obtaining restoration grant funding.

The church is trying to raise money for masonry work on its towers and for a new roof.

The designations site the entire Corpus Christi Church campus, which includes a rectory, school building, convent and parish hall.

State officials added Corpus Christi to the list of state landmarks in June. A month later, the buildings were named to the National Register of Historic Places.

jtokasz@buffnews.com

An Art Sunday trip by me. Nope not my waterfall project but a picture of the church I went to when I was younger.

This is Corpus Christi, on Buffalo's east side. Not a nice place to be around anymore but the inside is amazing to view.

The link to the entire article and more pictures is: http://www.buffalonews.com/185/story/153697.html

Go here for the Art Sunday tour: http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-eYzP1m8mcqWGR1P1D1BHTsBl6ZfmZWc-?cq=1