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Sacred Heart Catholic Church

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1927, Robert Willison. 727 4th St. (northeast corner of Edison Ave. and 4th St.)

The square, flat-topped twin turrets of this brick Neo-Romanesque church were intended for steeples that never materialized. Robert Willison, a Denver architect, used a cruciform plan for this church, which was “Hispanicized” in 1953 with a coat of stucco. Inside, a vaulted ceiling soars above the golden oak pews and oak floor. A young German artist, Joseph Steinhage, painted the large Christ on the sanctuary ceiling over the altar and the mural behind the altar in 1942. This 78-by-138-foot church with transepts and a rounded apse is the nucleus of a parish complex that includes a rectory and convent (1927, Robert Willison), a school (1963), and a parish hall (1976). A stuccoed arcade connects the two-story, stuccoed brick rectory (1939) to the church. A block east, at 401 4th Street, St. Thomas Episcopal Church (1923, William E. Fisher and Arthur A. Fisher), with its walled courtyard, is another example of Hispanicized redesign, while the First Baptist Church (1907), catercorner across State Street, stuck to its Queen Anne principles.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Thomas J. Noel

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