A 'Renaissance' ruin on the South Side: The last days of St. John of God Church

by Lee Bey | Jun. 27, 2011

As this blog has reported for the past year, the limestone facade and architectural exterior features of long-shuttered St. John of God church are being removed and hauled 50 miles north to be part of a new Roman Catholic church, St. Raphael the Archangel, under construction in Old Mill Creek, IL.

With the deconstruction at St. John of God almost complete, the church is now an urban ruin that is at once eerie and beautiful; an architectural remnant that resembles an archeological dig in southern Europe or the Mediterranean, rather than a soon-to-be demolition site at 52nd and Throop.

Here's what the church looked like in the spring of 2010 before work began:

And here's what it looks like today:

The new St. Raphael the Archangel will also reuse the marble, detailing, altar and pews of the closed St. Peter Canisius, 5057 W. North Avenue, and the big pipe organ from the former Medinah Temple--now a Bloomingdale's--at Wabash and Ohio.