St. Gelasius Church Building

Address: 6401-09 S. Woodlawn Ave. Year Built: 1923 - 1928 Architect: Henry J. Schlacks Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: January 14, 2004

Originally known as St. Clara Church, this visually impressive, gray-limestone-clad church building is a visual "landmark" in the South-Side Woodlawn neighborhood and was distinctively designed in the Renaissance Revival style with massive Corinthian columns, larger-than-life rooftop statues of saints, and a 120-foot-high bell tower ornamented with Classical pilasters. The building's designer, Henry J. Schlacks, was one of Chicago's leading ecclesiastical architects and designed several of the City's most significant late 19th- and early 20th-century church buildings, including (among others) St. Adalbert, St. Mary of the Lake, and St. Henry churches.