St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church Complex

St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church Complex Is significant as the home of one of Detroit's oldest Polish Catholic parishes, established In the late nineteenth century at a time of rapid growth of the Detroit Polish community. st. Josaphat's church Itself Is notable as an historic focal point of the city's Polish community. It Is significant as an enormous and monumental example of late VIctorian Romanesque- style ecclesiastical design and Is also Important In artistic terms for Its lavish Interior fittings, stained glass, frescoes and for Its Intact, early electrical lighting system. Much of the Interior decora- tion has an overtly Polish theme. Polish Immigrants from the Prusslan-domlnated sectors of Poland began to migrate to Detroit In the 1850s. After a disastrous revolution In Russian Poland In 1863, the numbers greatly Increased. st. Albertus, Detroit's first Polish Catholic church, was established In 1872. In 1882 a dynamic Krakow priest, Father Domlnlch Kolasinski, was appointed Its pastor. He was dismissed In 1886 after a dispute and sent to form a new parish In South Dakota. His dismissal caused great discord within the parish and resulted In Kolasinski's supporters seceding and forming the second east-side Polish parish, Sweetest Heart of Mary. Kolasinski eventually returned to Detroit In 1888 and became pastor of the new parish. Unlike Sweetest Heart of Mary, St. Josaphat's, founded In 1889 and the third east-side Polish Catholic parish, was not the child of discord, but rather a result of the natural Increase In the Polish population of Detroit. When the Canfield-Hastings (1-75) area was sufficiently populated to maintain a parish of Its own, the Intersection of these two streets was chosen as the site for st. Josaphat's Church. Joseph Nowakowski, a member of the new parish, owned a sizable acreage of land at Fremont (now Canfield) and Hastings Street. He donated twelve lots for the new church complex. The cornerstone of the first church was laid on October 6, 1889 and the church dedicated on February 2, 1890. A two-story structure with a basement was built to house the church and school. The first floor was designated for a school and living quarters for the Sisters, while the second floor became the church proper. The basement contained a steam heat furnace and four classrooms. The classrooms doubled as a meeting room for church societies. Within a few years the parish was outgrowing Its facilities and plans were made for the construction of a new church, rectory and boiler house. Construction began under the direction of Joseph G. Kastler and William E. N. Hunter, a prominent Michigan early twentieth-century church architect; John Koch, mason; and the Harcus and Lang Company, carpentry. The latter contributed to the construction of the main altar. The side altars were built by Jermowlcz Company, which was also responsible for the new pews. From the old church came the altars for the side chapels. In all the new structures totaled $100,000 In cost, half of which was subscribed almost Immediately. The church, rectory, and boiler house were completed In 1901 and the church was dedicated on August 5, 1901. Six years later the Sisters' convent was completed. After 1915, a parish high school was constructed on the grounds. The high educational standards of the school were consistently upgraded and Father Gannas, who became pastor of the parish In 1926, gained accre- ditation for the school from the University of Michigan. By 1960, the Polish ethnic neighborhood that the church once served had relocated. The school was closed and, In 1961, the empty school building was demo- lished and replaced with a parking lot and the Sisters' convent was converted Into the parish hall.

Constructed In the 1899-1907 period for a Polish parish, the St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church Complex Includes the late Victorian Romanesque St. Josaphat's Church (1899-1901>, a two-and-a-half-story brick rectory, a two-and-one-half-story Sisters' residence and a brick boiler house. The complex Is located on East Canfield Avenue, Immediately adjacent to the Chrysler Expressway (1-75), a six-lane depressed freeway. This area has been extensively redeveloped during the last two decades and now surrounding the church are new housing and the Medical Arts Complex. The main facade of the church faces south. To the church's west are found the rectory, a parking lot, and the Sisters' residence. Adjacent to the rear of the church and also to the west Is located the one-and-one-half-story boiler house. The church Is cruciform In plan and Is constructed of red-orange brick and trimmed with Bedford limestone. During the 1970s the exterior of the building was sandblasted as part of a major rehabilitation campaign. The church has rema ined structurally unaltered. The church, which seats almost 1,200 and Is 132 feet by 56 feet In plan, combines many elements taken from the northern European ecclesiastical tradition. Towered facades and trip le tower groups were used extensively In northern Europe between 1000 and 1200 A.D. and are considered one of the most magnificent manlfestatlonsof early Romanesque architecture. Clearly derived from this tradition, the facade of st. Josaphat's Is dominated by a large, central tower almost 200 feet In height which Is flanked by twin buttressed towers containing secondary entrances. The round arch, also characteristic, Is repeated In the portals and the arcaded fenestration of the towers. The verticality of the facade Is emphasized by the development of the square towers Into octagonal spires, the transition being masked by the use of pi nnacles at the corners of the towers. A fleche rises from the roof ridge at the transept crossing. The gables, which mark the ends of the transept, are punc- tuated with rose windows. The main body of the church consists of a higher nave flanked by lower aisles. The nave Is covered by a steeply pitched roof which Is typical of those found In northern European countries which receive heavy snowfall. The roof was once entirely sheathed In slate. It has been re-roofed with asphalt shingles and now only the spires retain the original grey slate. The church's cruciform plan has at the north end of the barrel vaulted, three-alsled nave a broad tran- sept which matches the central aisle In height. The apse Is preceded by a short antechotr. Marble columns with gilded capitals carry round arches supporting t he clerestory, which Is lit by round-headed windows. The narthex, preceding the nave and aisles, Is separated from the nave by a wall. Dual stairways lead to the choir loft, which Is cantilevered out Into the nave. The strong eclecticism of the Victorian period Is revealed In St. Josaphat's by the union of a strongly Romanesque plan with fine Baroque decorative detailing evidenced by the~-~ angels found between the arches of the nave. The flat plasterwork surfaces are painted Ivory and architectural details such as column capitals are gilded as part of the st rong Catholic tradition of utilizing religious Ico- nography as an Important element of the church's decoration. St. Josaphat's has extensive ceiling frescoes. Events which are Important In the history of Polish Catholicism are shown on the walls which separate the sanctuary from the side altars. On the eastern side Is the Pilgrimage to Czestochova. Pilgrims annually travel on foot from Warsaw to Czestochova, the national shrine of Our Lady of Czestochova, the patron saint of Poland. On the west Is the Miracle of the Wlsla River. This painting was added to the church In the 1920s; It depicts a World War I battle which occurred near the Wlsla River where a small band of Polish troops defeated Russian troops through, It Is said, the Intercession of the Blessed VIrgin. Also depleted are such subjects as the Holy Trinity, the Birth of Christ, the Last Supper, the Resurrection, the Polish saints and Mary, Queen of Poland.