Theodore C. Link’s Midtown Residence

Gary R. Tetley, AIA
 
One of the most prominent St. Louis architects at the turn of the Twentieth Century was Theodore C. Link. In addition to the usual successful architect’s portfolio of churches, schools, galleries and residences, Link also built on a monumental scale. By 1903 he had completed the St. Louis Union Station and the Mississippi State Capital. During the next twenty years he would complete the massive Barnes Hospital – Washington University School of Medicine Complex and the entire campus of Louisiana State University.

Less known is his personal residence located in midtown St. Louis and completed in 1905.  Link designed and built a brick two story L-shaped apartment house on the southeast corner of Delmar Avenue and North Spring. The building actually contained three separate units and was in a style similar to his Barr Branch Library completed around the same time.

One of the units faced Delmar with the address of 3746 and was occupied by Link’s son Edwin, his wife Virginia and their children. The corner unit at 628 Spring and was occupied by Theodore and Annie Link.  The third unit at 626 Spring and was occupied by Link’s son Karl, his wife Catherine and their children.

This was Link’s permanent residence until his death in 1923. Annie Link was still listed in the St. Louis Social Register 1925 at the same address. She died in April1943. Sometime between then and now the building was demolished.

Also, you can see their website at http://www.commonlights.com/ .

“The Spring Church” – 620 N. Spring Avenue – A Brief History

 
The charred remains of a once handsome building are a token of the fragility we as humans face. At the same time, the strength of the stone and the traces of its beauty emit a tangible hope that what we value will survive. Here at this place of burnt-out disaster we tell stories about what it used to be and make it again a place of joy and celebration.

In 1884 a Baptist congregation built this church at 460 N. Spring Avenue. The story goes that the Garrison Avenue Baptist Church actually wanted to build its new home at Grand and Washington, but a prominent parishioner, Mary Wetzel by name, insisted on having the church nearer her home and generously if somewhat expediently donated the lot next door to the Wetzel home.

The Garrison Avenue Baptists had originally been members of the Third Baptist Church but left to form their own congregation. Third Baptist offered considerable competition, especially after their large and handsome church was erected at Grand and Washington. After less than a decade at the North Spring Location, Garrison Avenue, now called Delmar Avenue Baptist, was moving west. It was just a mile west, to Delmar and Pendleton, but in 1892 a mile was a significant distance. Descendants of this congregation in its latest configuration are the Delmar Baptist Church located in the municipality of Town and Country, more than twenty miles from the church’s origins.

A year after the Baptists’ departure, the Church of the New Jerusalem moved into the building. These were Swedenborgians, a denomination out of the Christian mainstream, with generally smaller congregations and an emphasis on doctrinal study and spiritual journeys. Most of the members lived some distance from midtown, which is one of the reasons that the Swedenborgians had generally little contact with the community in the area. But as the neighborhood changed, and the members of the Church of the New Jerusalem steadily moved their residences even further away, the church began looking for other property. In 1956 a new home was developed in west county.

The congregation was known by a variety of names during its sixty-three year tenure at 460 N. Spring, most of them having New Jerusalem in the title. Now, in 2008, these Swedenborgians are at the Church of the Open Word, with a garden chapel in west county.

By the 1950s the African American population of the area had increased substantially, so it was likely that the next occupants of the handsome place of worship would be a group compromised mostly of that race. National Memorial Church of God in Christ was a congregation of a Pentecostal church founded in 1897. Most of the congregants lived in the midtown neighborhood, and the church carried on a significant outreach program to the community, including a food pantry and some transportation service.

In the early morning of March 27, 2001, the generations of worship and service in this venerable building came to an end. Lightning or faulty electric wiring started a fire somewhere in the church –an Act of God, although the devil may have been roundly blamed by some parishioners. By the time a security guard in the nearby VA Hospital noticed, the blaze had overtaken the building, despite the determined efforts of some 75 firefighters.

Unable to restore their beloved building, the congregation prepared to move, finding new quarters on Primrose Avenue in Pagedale, where they continue to worship and serve as the National Memorial St. Louis Holy Temple Church of God in Christ.

Grand Center, Inc. finally bought the church, but refashioning it into an urban sculpture garden or other community structure proved a long and ultimately unsuccessful project.

In 2008 the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts inaugurated “The Lamp Project at Spring Church” as part of a series of exhibits in the Community Light Project. International artists Sebastian Hungerer and Rainer Kehres planned an installation in the roof space of the ruined church and have collected lamps and fixtures from throughout the St. Louis area. Each of the lamps has a story, and the artists have collected those stories as well, for the project is more than a pretty piece of artwork. It’s a means of examining the role of art and light in community and in some sense a tribute to the many worshippers who have in this spot brought light and hope to the community.

Tami Goldman
Cultural Tourism/Special Projects Manager Missouri History Museum

http://www.vimeo.com/1673437

“The interior of the Memorial church of God in Christ features a simple wood-paneled ceiling with pointed-arched ribs marking bay divisions. Vertical sliding glass doors (a partial Akron plan) partition the auditorium from auxiliary rooms in the balcony. Façade windows in the church display a Decorated English Gothic tracery pattern in the form of a circle inset with a six-pointed star.”

Though it is a terrible shame this interior was destroyed by fire, it seems from reading this description that trying to reproduce the interior would be a pointless action. In an email to me, Michael Allen of the website www.eco-absence.org and of the blog www.ecoabsence.blogspot.com (both wonderful resources for those interested in abandoned buildings and the discussion of the issues surrounding “the built environment” of St. Louis) wrote, “A skilled reconstruction could bring back the church’s character, but the original interior is gone forever and imitation would be obvious no matter how attractive.” He then added, “Retaining the walls and using the interior for what essentially will be a sanctuary is a fitting reuse.” And he’s right. What once was a place for people to gather as members of the same faith is now serving a similar function. The title of the first work to be installed at this site will be “Chorus,” a fitting name for the new roof of a church.

Something I’ve noticed as I read the resources given to me is how the church congregation changed as Grand Center changed. Most cities in America have gone through the same type of changes that St. Louis has over its history. The city was the center of life and culture. Now, cities are places a majority of Americans go visit or travel to from the suburbs for entertainment. That is unless you live in places that survived urban sprawl like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The reasons for this are numerous, but I won’t rehash them in this post. What I’m interested in is the church shuffling congregations as the neighborhood changed. First, the Baptists had too many churches in one area, so they moved. Then, as more white Americans moved to the suburbs across the country, cities became increasingly African-American in population. The Church of the Open Word had its congregation commuting from the suburbs to attend services. So, obviously, they decided it would be better to have services closer to their members’ homes and moved out to Creve Coeur, MO. The National Memorial Church of God in Christ was not able to rebuild their church after the electrical fire and the building was sold to Grand Center. Now, since the Arts have moved into Grand Center, the church walls will be a place for sculpture to reside and people to visit with the intention of viewing art works. Somehow, despite presently having no religious affiliation, the purpose of this church has not changed as it will be a contributing member of the community in Grand Center.

The theme of recycling really jumps out when I take a look at this project. A leftover, damaged church needs a new roof and a purpose. Two artists from Germany come to St. Louis and are going to make a “roof” out of old, rejected, twice used lamps from the community. Watching something like this unfold puts some of my negativity aside when it comes to urban redevelopment. I watch buildings be destroyed because it’s easier to knock them over and start from scratch than repair the years of misuse and neglect. With the current trend toward green energy and recycling, I see this project as a positive endorsement of these new ideas. I’m not entirely sure that was the motivation behind this project from the beginning, but it sure does stand out as a major part from my viewpoint.

Timeline: 620 North Spring Avenue

1880-1896: Zebediah and Mary Wetzel owned the lot on which her congregation, Garrison Avenue Baptist Church, constructed their new building.

October 5, 1884: Delmar Avenue Baptist Church (formerly known as Garrison Avenue Baptist Church) opens its doors at 620 N. Spring Ave.

1892: Delmar Avenue Baptist Church moves to a newly built stone church at Delmar and Pendleton.

1893: Church of the New Jerusalem occupies the building.  Throughout its time at the site, it was known as First Society of the New Jerusalem, New Church Chapel, Church of the Divine Humanity, New Jerusalem Church of the Divine Humanity, New Jerusalem Church, and First Church of the New Jerusalem.

1956:  Church of the New Jerusalem moves to a temporary location until the completion of their present church which is located in Creve Coeur National Memorial Church of God in Christ occupies the building.

March 27, 2001: Electrical fire destroys church at 620 N. Spring Avenue.

2001: National Memorial Church of God in Christ moves to its new location at 6082 Primrose.