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New York Architecture
Images-Chelsea Church of the Holy Communion Landmark |
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architect |
Richard M. Upjohn |
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location |
49 West 20th St. |
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date |
1844-50 |
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style |
Gothic Revival (became a prototype for this style) |
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construction |
stone |
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type |
Church |
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images |
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notes |
Designed in a
rustic Gothic Revival style, this modest church was built for an
Episcopalian congregation when the neighborhood was a remote, second-rate
residential district surrounded by fields. Its asymmetrical composition,
brownstone construction and simple ornament all function to emphasize its
picturesque character. The Medieval details on the church and rectory
echoed those of an nearby group of row houses which were a rare example of
Gothic Revival residential architecture in the city. Saved in the 1960s by
a landmark designation sought by its last minister, the Church building
has since been used as a drug rehabilitation center and, subsequently, as
a dance club called the Limelight.
It's a church of some sort, isn't it? Sort of. It was when it was built between 1844 and 1850 on Sixth and 20th by Richard Upjohn, the Trinity Church architect. In the 1980s it became the Limelight Disco; in the 1990s its owner, Peter Gatien, was busted when drug dealing was rampant in the former Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion. |