RIP - Old St. George towers

[ahart2001]

I definitley had no idea this had happened until Friz told me Friday night at Northside Tavern sitting around the fire (ironic?). This saddens me.

P.S. If anyone finds the article, feel free to post/link. I'm just too lazy to look it up.

[Floozy]

The latest is that the steeples are fixable:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080202/NEWS01/802020389

[Kruschev]

That def was a Clifton Heights landmark. Fine, I'll put up a newsclipping. I'm lazy myself, but wanna hear how it started. Here's a video:

http://opera.cincinnati.com/netcasts/playerNews.asp

Looks like something out of a movie.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080202/NEWS01/802020389

Landmark called 'repairable'
Spires of Old St. George collapse, but main building saved
BY CLIFF PEALE AND QUAN TRUONG | CPEALE@ENQUIRER.COM | QTRUONG@ENQUIRER.COM |
E-mail thisE-mail | Printer-FriendlyPrint | digg us! | del.icio.us! * | Listen to this article or download audio file. Click-2-Listen

CLIFTON HEIGHTS – There is some water damage inside Old St. George Church but overall it is “repairable,” a Cincinnati Fire Department official said today.

Capt. Dan Rottmueller of the department’s Fire Investigation Unit said there are some areas of standing water in the basement and many of the carpets are wet.

“I think it all can be repaired,” Rottmueller said this afternoon. “It’s just normal water damage.”

• Photos: The morning after: The damage and cleanup

A three-alarm blaze Friday night destroyed the twin spires atop the historic structure. Several crews from O’Rourke Wrecking and the fire department were on cranes today, picking off charred boards from the spires and throwing them onto the ground.

A large bell inside one of the steeples apparently was still in place, and investigators were being cautious about entering the building until stabilizing the bell.

Rottmueller said the fire is under investigation and the fire department has not pinpointed a cause.

The community group that bought the church to spare it from demolition said it would continue efforts to save it.

"We are saddened by the tragic fire last night at Old St. George
Church," said a statement from Matt Bourgeois, Director of the
Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CHCURC).

"At this time, it seems as if the damage from the fire has been contained to the steeples ... Old St. George is insured against fire damage. At this time, our intentions are to continue working to save Old St. George from demolition."

Crews planned to remove everything above the steeples' clocks and masonry structure, then place a temporary cover on the steeples to protect the interior.

The spires atop the steeples crashed to the ground during the fire, but crews kept it from spreading to the main section of the building. There were no injuries.

Calhoun Street remained blocked to traffic from Vine Street west to Scioto Street, and Scioto was blocked north of McMillan past the church building to the University of Cincinnati campus. The timing of street reopenings was not clear Saturday afternoon.

Duke Energy crews restored power to the neighborhood this morning.

• Video: The cleanup
• Video: The fire

The historic church, designed by Samuel Hannaford, was built in 1873. It closed as a church in 1993 and long housed a coffeehouse and served as a community meeting center, but has recently been vacant.

CHCURC has been talking to developers about potential uses for the site.

• Share your memories of St. George

HISTORY GOES UP IN FLAMES

Part of this neighborhood's history went up in flames and collapsed Friday night as residents watched in horror.

The spires atop the twin steeples at Old St. George Church crashed to the ground as a three-alarm fire burned through them at the historic structure on Calhoun Street.

The steeples' clocks lit up as flames shot through. The church is directly across the street from the University of Cincinnati campus.

When one of the spires collapsed about 8 p.m., burning embers hit overhead wires, cutting power to about 2,800 Duke Energy customers.

• Photos of the fire

After the spires collapsed, the fire was reduced, and firefighters moved in to quickly extinguish it. Until then, they had concentrated on keeping the slate roof between the steeples from catching fire. The main structure of the church sustained little apparent fire damage.

Heavy smoke was first spotted coming from one of the steeples just after 7 p.m. There were no reports of injuries.

• Photos of Old St. George through the years

District Fire Chief Paul Weber said the fire started in the west steeple, and as firefighters were fighting it, fire spread to the east steeple.

"The wind helped spread the fire pretty good," Weber said.

Most of the fire was confined to the steeples, he said.

Efforts to keep the fire out of the main church were a success, he said.

"If it spread to the main area of the church, we could've been here all night and through the morning," he said.

The historic church, designed by Samuel Hannaford, was built in 1873. It closed as a church in 1993 and long housed a coffeehouse and served as a community meeting center, but has recently been vacant.

Old St. George Church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation bought the church from the Old St. George group in 2005. That group had bought it from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1994 and extensively renovated it.

Matt Bourgeois, director of the redevelopment corporation, said the agency was exploring options for reusing the building.

Bourgeois was at the scene watching firefighters work Friday. He said the structure, for which the group paid $1.6 million, was insured. It bought the building to save it from being razed and replaced by a Walgreens.

Dale Sample, the building's caretaker, lived in the old church but got out safely, Bourgeois said.

Cincinnati architectural historian Walter E. Langsam called the fire a tragedy.

"This is a building that was designed by Samuel Hannaford himself, by his own hand. He often had a partner, but this was a period, 1873, when he was on his own."

Hannaford was one of the city's pre-eminent 19th-century architects, responsible for dozens of buildings - from private residences to grand public spaces such as Music Hall and Cincinnati City Hall.

"It's a landmark of the neighborhood and almost the only physical reminder of its German-American heritage," he said. "It was built by modest people for themselves."

The church was designed in the German Romanesque style, a phase of Gothic revival with rounded arches and windows.

"Its pair of towers are exceptionally handsome," Langsam said, adding that there are not many churches with two towers.

As he was watching the building burn, Paul Struck, 32, of Corryville, said the church was a reminder of the neighborhood's historical integrity.

"It was nice to see something remain while everything else around is being torn down. The city will never be the same."

Joseph Flowers, 49, of Clifton, watched in shock when one steeple spire collapsed, then the other.

"It reminds me of 9/11 and the twin towers," he said. "It's very sad and heartbreaking. It's a known city landmark and one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen."

Old St. George was built as a Catholic church and was put on the National Register of Historic Places in March 1980 as part of an overall nomination of Hannaford's work.

It is included on the Cincinnati Preservation Association's list of "Endangered Places."

The church is one of three buildings in the neighborhood that preservationists have tried to keep intact, said Beth Sullebarger, a historic preservation consultant who is a former director of the Cincinnati Preservation Association. The other two are Hughes High School and the University YMCA, she said.

"It's a terrible tragedy," she said. "It will be a real challenge to save it at this point."

She said the church's architectural style is unusual.

"There are more examples of later Romanesque-style churches and simpler Gothic style ones than there are of German Romanesque."

Romanesque architecture is known by its massive quality, thick walls, round arches, sturdy piers, groin vaults, large towers and decorative arcading.

The church cost about $100,000 to build and seated 1,200.

The building is dark, pressed brick, and the twin spires, each containing four clocks, rise 190 feet, making its copper-clad spires a landmark.

Scott Enns, a Clifton architect and urban planner, was one of the many who watched with pain as flames shot out of the steeples. In that church, he said, residents have been baptized, wedded and laid to rest.

"For many Clifton residents, this place represented part of their family history. This may change the skyline of the neighborhood forever."



http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Dato=20080201&Kategori=VIDEO&Lopenr=302010129&Ref=AR

[echs]

I was at UC today, and the roads were still being detoured in the afternoon as cranes worked to take down the damaged steeples. There was a news helicopter circling and being obnoxiously noisy as I walked to Jersey Mikes.

I was parked right across the street from the church yesterday afternoon, and as I got in my car after lunch, I thought about how I wanted to photograph the church eventually. 3 hours later, the steeples are on fire.

[LCash]

I always had a clear view of those steeples from my art history class on the top floor of the edwards building that resides right behind the church. they were a nice distraction image in the morning sunlight when i couldn't pay attention to the slideshows.

sad to see them go.

[jd1]

So maybe (probably) I'm too cynical... But what are the odds UC did this?

They must want that land pretty bad--they're gobbling up everything else, and with the building burnt down, there's no way for preservationists to block them on historical preservation grounds. Maybe the CFD was just too quick in responding?

Well, that's the way things are done here in Chicago, anyway.

--JD

[ahart2001]

Thanks for posting the link and photos. I took a look and was pretty relieved. The damage looks alot less than what it was made out to be. Kudos to the Cincinnati Fire Department. The building as a whole is still in good condition, except for the actual roof on the steeples. That is why I love brick and stone structures much more than building nowadays. They can survuve something like this.

[patio]

So maybe (probably) I'm too cynical... But what are the odds UC did this?

--JD

Not so fast, it was owned by Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CHCURC), which (while not owned by UC) is basically controlled by them. And it was that organization that bought St. George some years ago so it wouldn't get demolished. If you wanna come up with a conspirancy theory i'd say look for some fanatic anti CHCURC people. They have done a lot of dumb things in Clifton and made a lot of enemies in the process.

[joebob]

Not so fast, it was owned by Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CHCURC), which (while not owned by UC) is basically controlled by them. And it was that organization that bought St. George some years ago so it wouldn't get demolished. If you wanna come up with a conspirancy theory i'd say look for some fanatic anti CHCURC people. They have done a lot of dumb things in Clifton and made a lot of enemies in the process.

Before the steeples even fell, I heard someone mention that theory.

[jd1]

Not so fast, it was owned by Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CHCURC), which (while not owned by UC) is basically controlled by them. And it was that organization that bought St. George some years ago so it wouldn't get demolished. If you wanna come up with a conspirancy theory i'd say look for some fanatic anti CHCURC people. They have done a lot of dumb things in Clifton and made a lot of enemies in the process.Actually, if the building was vacant before this, I'd say the most likely "conspiracy" theory was someone with nowhere to live breaking in and building a fire to keep warm. That also happens all too often. Though in this case, the fact that the blaze was apparently contained to the steeples probably suggests an even more mundane explanation.

--JD