Chicago has lost a landmark:
(CBS) CHICAGO A massive fire has destroyed a landmark 1890 church on the city’s South Side that played a major role in the development of gospel music.
The roaring blaze, which started shortly after 3 p.m., gutted the Pilgrim Baptist Church and collapsed its roof, the flames and thick black smoke shooting so high they could be seen from blocks around.
The cause of the blaze at the church, designed by the famous architectural firm of Adler & Sullivan, was not immediately known.
“It’s like hearing a close relative has died or a good friend. It’s heartbreaking,” said Ned Cramer, curator of the Chicago Architecture Foundation.
Most neighbors fled their homes. Wheelchair-bound Latrice Jackson escaped with her two sons.
“I didn’t think it was that serious until I looked out my kids’ window and saw it was fire and it was through the roof,†Jackson said.
Others simply watched, some with video cameras, their reactions captured on their own tapes.
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The church, designated a Chicago landmark in 1981, was originally a synagogue after it was built between 1890 and 1891 but has housed the church since 1922.
During the 1930s, the congregation and its longtime music director, Thomas A. Dorsey, were instrumental in the development of gospel music, according to the Chicago Department of Planning and Development Landmarks Division.
Among those who sang at the church were Mahalia Jackson, according to the landmarks division’s Web site.
Cramer said the church was a place where architects Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler experimented with the features that made them famous — such as ornamental designs, vaulted ceilings and amazing acoustics.
This was the place that modern gospel music was born. It is feared that the contents of the church, including original art and original gospel sheetmusic, have been completely lost.
This is a church that was uniquely important to the life of the community it served. It will be missed.
