St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Church (Roanoke, Virginia)

St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Church

St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Church, June 2010
Location 631 N. Jefferson St., Roanoke, Virginia
Coordinates 37°16′41″N 79°56′29″W / 37.27806°N 79.94139°W / 37.27806; -79.94139Coordinates: 37°16′41″N 79°56′29″W / 37.27806°N 79.94139°W / 37.27806; -79.94139
Area 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built 1883 (1883), 1887, 1900-1902
Architect Ginther, William
Architectural style Gothic
NRHP Reference # 73002225[1]
VLR # 128-0030
Significant dates
Added to NRHP May 7, 1973
Designated VLR October 17, 1972[2]

St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Church is a historic Roman Catholic church and rectory in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It was built in 1900-1902, and is a buff brick church on a stone foundation in the High Victorian Gothic style. It has a cruciform plan and features two tall Gothic towers which flank the main entrance and are square in plan. On each tower are two small lancet windows, two large pointed-arch stained-glass tracery windows, and sets of double pointed-arch openings at the belfry. Also on the property is a rectory built in 1887. The church replaced an earlier small brick church built in 1883.[3]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[1]

The church has had two major renovations since its completion. The first renovations took place after the Second Vatican Council authorized certain liturgical alterations. A freestanding altar was installed so that Mass could be celebrated versus populum, the priest facing the people. The ornate high altar, being not only disused but removed from more progressive parishes, was left in place and intact.

Later, the original freestanding altar was replaced with a more ornate, marble one that remains in use to this day. At the same time the interior was radically modified to remove two side altars, a long altar rail, and a select portion of iconography. The lighting of the church was also renovated to allow a brighter hue.

From 2010 to 2014 St. Andrews saw its most expensive long-term renovation. The large pipe organ, being an object of much effort to maintain, was replaced with an electric organ. The pipes, however, were retained for decoration. In 2014 the steeples, originals from the construction of the church, were removed and renovated.

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. Gregory Weidman (May 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Church" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo
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