Local landmark church participates in statewide open house
Share
On Saturday, May 17, from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., Blessed Trinity Church (317 Leroy Ave., Buffalo) will participate in the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s 15 annual Sacred Sites Open House weekend with its theme of “Building for Eternity: Religious Architecture and Artisans.”
Reflecting on the restoration and reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the conservancy describes New York state’s religious buildings as “a remarkable repository of artistry and craftsmanship,” and invites New Yorkers to explore them “without needing a passport.”
Visitors to Blessed Trinity can be transported to northern Italy and time-travel back more than 800 years to this replication of 12th century Lombard Romanesque-style architecture, locally conceived and constructed with materials made and quarried in the United States. Welcoming docents will identify some of the local artisans who created this masterpiece and help you appreciate the building’s outstanding features: handmade bricks produced and set in a medieval fashion; the large-scale use of ceramics including an elaborate display of medieval iconography on the terra cotta portico; and more than 2,000 symbols summarizing Christian beliefs in paintings, sculpture, mosaic floor tiles, metal and woodworking.
Designed by architects Chester Oakley and Albert Schallmo, the church was built between 1923 and 1928 by a working-class congregation of primarily German and Irish immigrants at a cost of $513,000. In 1976, while valuing it at $4.25 million, a commercial appraisal company lamented that it could not be reproduced because “similar craftsmen needed to do the work are no longer available.” More recently, its uniqueness was recognized by film director Alejandro Monteverde who chose it as a setting for scenes in Angel Studios “Cabrini,” the 2024 biopic of St. Frances Cabrini filmed in Buffalo.
The New York Landmarks Conservancy’s Sacred Sites Program provides congregations with matching grants for planning and implementing exterior restoration projects, technical assistance and workshops. Since its founding, the conservancy has loaned and granted in excess of $60 million, which has leveraged more than $900 million in 1,300-plus restoration projects throughout New York. Its work has saved more than a thousand buildings statewide, protecting New York’s distinctive architectural heritage for residents and visitors today and generations in the future.
Other participants include Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church (199 Clark St., Buffalo), a Romanesque church built of red sandstone in 1909, with a seating capacity of 1,900; Central Park United Methodist and Temple Beth Zion in Buffalo, and Historic Holy Trinity Church in Niagara Falls.Tours at all church locations are free of charge and available to the public at the times listed at www.nylandmarks.org/sacred-sites-open-house/. #nysacredsites25. Blessed Trinity is wheelchair accessible with off-street parking.
