CityPads, the developer slated to acquire the St. Adalbert’s church site from the Archdiocese of Chicago, no longer is under contract to purchase the property.
“We do not comment on specific transactions,” wrote Susan Thomas, an Archdiocese of Chicago spokesperson. “We are continuing to evaluate our options with the previous St. Adalbert parish campus.”
“We feel like this is another chance for our group and for all the interested parties to come together to hopefully resolve this issue in a way that’s positive for the whole of the community, especially here in Pilsen,” said Blanca Torres, a St. Adalbert Preservation Society representative.
“The church cannot be sold while there is an active appeal in the Vatican court,” said Julie Sawicki, president of the Society of St. Adalbert (SOSA), alluding to an unresolved appeal in the Vatican’s Apostolic Signatura. “It doesn’t mean that the developer isn’t still interested. We do expect our case to be heard in the coming year,” added Sawicki, who emphasized that COVID-19 had interfered with the signatura’s normal scheduling.
“I think that the pressure has to continue to be put on [the Archdiocese] to do the right thing and to honor the wishes of the community, to honor the wishes of the stakeholders, to honor the contributions of the immigrants that not only built this church but allowed it to thrive and survive for over 140 years—because that’s the right thing to do,” Sawicki said.
Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez “asked the City last August to move forward with landmarking,” said Sawicki. “And to this day, the Landmark Commission has not done anything with the alderman’s request. We have been trying to get down to the bottom of why they are refusing to landmark the church and the rectory.”
Sawicki stated a 1987 amendment to the City’s landmark ordinance requiring owner consent to landmark a building owned by a religious organization and used primarily for religious ceremonies no longer applies because archdiocese deconsecrated St. Adalbert in 2019. Kevin Bargnes, a spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD), confirmed Sawicki was correct.
“The City shares the neighborhood’s desire to see St. Adalbert’s permanently protected,” wrote Bargnes. “Planning staff expect a landmark designation to move forward once it’s determined what the Chicago archdiocese and the Catholic Church intend to do with the complex. Additionally, the church and convent are orange rated, which means there would be a hold on any demolition permit for 90 days, providing opportunity for the City to launch a landmark designation process.”
Sawicki is not worried about St. Adalbert’s being demolished: “I think this one has too much of a spotlight on it.”
“Our group, for the most part, we support landmarking,” said Torres. “I think we have to be patient with the processes right now.”
According to Torres, prayer vigils continue in front of the church most Fridays at 7 p.m. and most Sundays at 9 a.m.
“The beauty also is part of this community because the community built this and the community maintained it,” added Torres. “Hopefully, the archdiocese will come and listen to those stakeholders.”
“We have to be thinking of saving this church not for the immediate term, for the next five years,” said Sawicki. “We have to be thinking of a solution that is going to provide for it for the next fifty to a hundred years.”
For the Archdiocese of Chicago, log on to www.archchicago.org. Call the DPD at (312) 744-4190. Find more about the St. Adalbert Preservation Society at www.facebook.com/StAdalbertPreservationSociety/. For the Society of St. Adalbert, go to www.facebook.com/SOSAChicago/.
—Nathan Worcester