Desloge Chapel

Desloge Chapel is a Gothic church in St. Louis, Missouri. Located at Grand Avenue and Vista Avenue, it was designed by Gothic revivalist architect Ralph Adams Cram to echo the Sainte-Chapelle chapel in Paris.

Desloge Chapel, St. Louis, MO
Desloge Chapel Interior, rear
Desloge Chapel Interior, altar

Built in 1931-33 for the Firmin Desloge Hospital, now St. Louis University Medical Center, the chapel serves as an ecumenical pastoral chapel for the hospital complex, and is formally designated the Chapel of Christ the Crucified King by the Roman Catholic church within the Archdiocese of St. Louis.[1]

History

Like the hospital it serves, the Desloge Chapel was underwritten by gifts from the family of Firmin V. Desloge,[2] one of the oldest French families in the United States and wealthy through lead mining and other endeavors.[3] Firmin's wife Lydia Holden Davis Desloge gave $100,000 ($1,530,478 today[4]) to build the chapel.[5][6][7]

Roman Catholic Archbishop John Glennon laid the cornerstone of the hospital on June 22, 1931, and consecrated the chapel on November 9, 1933.

In 1952, the funeral of the founder's son, Firmin V. Desloge II, was held at the chapel.[8][9]

In 1998, Saint Louis University sold the Chapel, along with the Hospital, to Tenet Healthcare Corp., a for-profit chain based in Dallas.[10]

In 2015, the university bought back the hospital, then sold it to SSM Health, the Creve Coeur-based health care system sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, formerly Sisters of Saint Mary.[10]

Design

The stained glass windows were planned by Father Maurice B.McNamee, designed by Rodney Winfield, and fabricated by Emil Frei Associates in 1983.[11][12] An artisan since 1898, Emil Frei also designed the stained glass windows for St. Louis University's St. Francis Xavier (College) Church. (Frei's son, Emil III, became an American physician and oncologist at Firmin Desloge Hospital.) An earlier plan, with windows depicting Jesuit missions in North America, was created by the firm of Reynolds, Francis & Rohnstock of Boston.

At the altar is a major sculptural group of the Crucifixion by John Angel, the British-born sculptor, medallist, and lecturer.[13]

Future

As of October 2015, SSM Health was planning to spend $500 million to rebuild and expand the hospital. Various media reported that the options under consideration include demolishing the Chapel and the 1933 hospital tower; SSM officials say they have not ruled that out.[14][15][16]

Desloge scion Christopher Desloge has launched an effort to preserve the chapel and hospital that his family helped build.[17][18]

The original architectural firm of Ralph Adams Cram (now Cram & Ferguson) which designed Desloge Chapel in 1931 has, eighty-five years later in 2016, joined the list of Stakeholders signing a letter to the owner SSM appealing for preservation.

In November 2016, St. Louis University released its redevelopment plans for the area.[19] The plan does not call for demolishing Desloge Chapel, leading the St. Louis Post Dispatch to report that "the iconic Firmin Desloge tower along Grand Boulevard appears safe for now."[20]

References
  1. St. Louis University, Pastoral Care Department: https://www.slu.edu/pastoral-care%5B%5D
  2. This gift, the second of two, was reported by the Globe-Democrat on February 15, 1931. Archives of the Globe Democrat, now out of business, Mercantile Library, St. Louis, Missouri.
  3. Stevens, Walter B. St. Louis The Fourth City 1764–1911. 2 vols. St. Louis-Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1909 and 1911.
  4. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  5. bequest of Mrs. Firmin V. Desloge (née Lydia Holden Davis) Probated will of Lydia Desloge, source Farmington (Missouri) Press, December 1932
  6. the original, fully executed bequest documents in the possession of the Missouri Historical Society Archives, St. Louis, MO, Joseph Desloge Collection
  7. "Saint Louis University Timeline". slu.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-06-05. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
  8. "RootsWeb: MOSTFRAN-L [MOSTFRAN-L] Firmin V. Desloge - St. Francois County Mining Executive". archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
  9. The Desloge Chronicles, by Christopher D Desloge, 2011
  10. Liss, Samantha (September 1, 2015). "The deal is done: St. Louis University Hospital is now part of SSM Health". St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  11. The Society of Architectural Historians, Missouri valley Chapter, Volume XIV, Number 2, Summer 2008, page 5 and 6, "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-26. Retrieved 2014-02-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Firmin Desloge Hospital Chapel | Emil Frei & Associates". emilfrei.com. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
  13. The Society of Architectural Historians, Missouri valley Chapter, Volume XIV, Number 2, Summer 2008, page 5, "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-26. Retrieved 2014-02-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. Liss, Samantha (September 8, 2015). "Will SSM tear down the old Desloge Tower?". St. Louis, Missouri. Saint Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  15. http://nextstl.com/2015/06/ssm-health-planning-for-massive-development-at-slu-medical-campus/
  16. http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ssm-health-announces-plans-for-new-m-slu-hospital/article_6942e1d0-4be7-51ba-bb9f-6b1c7c58f5f5.html
  17. http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/will-ssm-tear-down-the-old-desloge-tower/article_f20b2f29-a41b-5d27-9b00-f58d95c3175e.html
  18. http://www.abcstlouis.com/news/features/allman-report/stories/Future-of-St-Louis-University-Medical-Complex-Up-in-Air-202746.shtml#.Vhg6gOxViko
  19. http://www.slu.edu/news/2016/november/redevelopment-plan-released.php
  20. http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/slu-plan-calls-for-demolition-of-pevely-dairy-building-saving/article_6199353e-9d7a-56bd-9e48-e02ba76f37ef.html

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