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1. Philadelphia Church, Chicago. 1921, Axel Teisen. 1921 postcard via @NewberryLibrary / 2019 photo.
Converting this former bank into a church was a prescient bit of adaptive reuse in 1939 - repurposing these "temple of finance"-type banks as religious spaces is now commonplace.
Converting this former bank into a church was a prescient bit of adaptive reuse in 1939 - repurposing these "temple of finance"-type banks as religious spaces is now commonplace.
2. The building was built by the Capital State Savings Bank, a bank founded by Andersonville's Swedes in 1913. The bank was successful, and they hired Danish-American architect Axel V. Teisen to design their new HQ in 1921.
3. The crash in 1929 mortally wounded the Capital State Savings Bank. In a last-ditch attempt to survive it merged with another local bank, but within two years the merged bank was one of the thousands that failed in 1931.
4. The Swedish-English bilingual Philadelphia Swedish Pentecostal Church took over the vacant old bank in 1939.
"...most of the closed banks' quarters in Chicago have been converted into taverns or stores. This is the first time...one has been sold for religious purposes".
"...most of the closed banks' quarters in Chicago have been converted into taverns or stores. This is the first time...one has been sold for religious purposes".
5. They eventually dispensed with the Swedish-language services and dropped "Swedish Pentecostal" from the name.
1986
: Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection, @chipublib via @ChiCollections
1986
: Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection, @chipublib via @ChiCollections
6. Now just the Philadelphia Church, it still has its neat 1940s neon sign today.
7. Teisen, the Danish-American architect, had a productive career in Chicago. His wackiest commission was undoubtedly the Lincoln Log Cabin in his home country, a weird replica log cabin in Rebild National Park in northern Jutland where they have an annual 4th of July festival.
