Building of the Day: 269 Gates Avenue
The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy. Address: 269 Gates Avenue, corner of Franklin Avenue Name: Formerly Latter Day Saints Chapel, now Evening Star Baptist Church…
The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy.
Address: 269 Gates Avenue, corner of Franklin Avenue
Name: Formerly Latter Day Saints Chapel, now Evening Star Baptist Church
Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant
Year Built: 1917
Architectural Style: Frank Lloyd Wright inspired Modern
Architects: Eric Holmgren
Landmarked: No
Considering the Mormon faith was founded in upstate NY in 1830, it shouldn’t be a surprise that there would be Mormons somewhere in Brooklyn. Although never very large, they did have their headquarters for the Eastern States Mission, which was responsible for missionary work throughout the entire Northeastern US, in various places in the borough in the early 1900’s. By 1908, they are listed at the address of the apartment building across the street from here.
They grew enough to have this very modern temple built in 1917. Who would expect a Frank Lloyd Wright style building in the middle of brownstone Brooklyn? Not much is known about Eric O. Holmgren, the architect, except that he practiced here in Brooklyn beginning in the 1890’s, was active in the Brooklyn AIA, and he died in 1951.
Most of his buildings attributed, so far, were designed between 1910 and 1925, with brick homes in Sunset Park, Crown Heights North, and 3 (now 2) homes in the newly designated Ocean on the Park houses. Here he appears to be channeling Wright’s Unity Temple (1904) in Oak Park, outside of Chicago.
The stucco covered building has has the vertical lines, the square shape, that total departure from the Victorian aesthetic of the buildings all around it. It really is quite an adventurous design for its time, for Holmgren and for the Latter Day Saints. I don’t know when the Mormons sold the building, but the Evening Star Baptist Church has been there since the late 1970’s. Every few years the stucco starts to fall off, and the building has to be patched and gets a new coat of paint. Modernism is hard work.
[Photos by Suzanne Spellen]
Construction on this chapel or meetinghouse (it wasn’t a “temple” as Mormons use that term) was completed in 1918 and the building dedicated in February 1919. A few months previous to this, the church built the red brick building just to the west of this chapel, which in fact it used as the headquarters of the Eastern States Mission until 1939. (I wonder if Mr. Holmgren was the architect on that project as well.)
The chapel was sold in late 1963–I can’t find my copies of the deed, but I believe that the Eastern Star Baptist Church was the purchaser.
There were other buildings built by the Mormons (not in New York) at this same period which appear to have been influenced by the same source, in particular, temples in Hawaii, Alberta and Arizona.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ETnZS8M1vxU/S76MsDinSoI/AAAAAAAABI0/cpv-Z9c4Kss/s320/IMG_5267.JPG
Poor quality photos on these posts.
Here’s a better shot of this temple
WBer, I remember them re-stuccoing the place a while back, probably when I still lived in Bed-Stuy, so that was at least 10 years ago. I think it’s cement under there, but not really sure.
NOP, I saw your story about the EP house, and remembered you telling me that. Great story, and hope you come back to the area again soon. The Starlight is gone, though, as is the restaurant we took you to, alas.
Minard, where you been? Unfortunately, I’ve never been inside this church, will have to do that one of these days to see if the Wright influence carries to the interior. Thanks for the complements!
Montrose, how remarkable, a total knock-off of Wright’s Unity Temple. Is the interior also modeled after Unity Temple? The interior of the Unity Temple floats midway inside the building, it is of course, one of Wright’s early masterpieces. A work of genius.
And on Gates Avenue, the Brooklyn version! Remarkable.
Your articles are the very best thing about this blog.
Holy Cow, Montrose!
Who knew?
Add this to all the suggestions people give you:
A jitney tour of your best BOTDs, drinks following (at the Starlite?)
And see HOTD on Eastern Parkway from a few days ago, where I relate the story I mentioned to you on our walk a year ago.
Quaint little building. Fits in well enough with it’s surroundings. It’s modernism done right, and I’m no huge fan of Frank Lloyd Wright either.
Beautiful, MM. What is under that stucco? Looks like they just keep adding a little more frosting to the cake.