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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& #39;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& #39; 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& #39; 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
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1986
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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.
