The historic Chicago landmark First Church of Deliverance was awarded a $500,000 grant by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the organization announced Tuesday.
The grant builds on the Bronzeville church’s $150,000 grant, which was awarded by the National Trust in July.
The latest funding for the landmark at 4315 S. Wabash Ave. — one of the city’s few examples of streamline Art Moderne architecture — was part of the National Trust’s annual National Fund for Sacred Places program. The program provided $8.73 million in financial assistance to 30 historic and architecturally significant faith communities nationwide, including the First Church of Deliverance.
The grant will be used to restore the church’s stained glass windows and iconic twin towers, First Church of Deliverance Project Coordinator Marcella Thomas said.
“It’s an important piece of the church’s architectural history,” Thomas said. “Those pieces, they all fit together.”
The grant is a matching grant, meaning the church will have to match the $500,000. Thomas said it plans to fundraise and accept donations.
“There may be others that would like to contribute to this effort, to make sure that this historical treasure remains viable for the future and the future generations to come,” Thomas said.
The church was built in 1939 and designed by Walter T. Bailey, the first licensed Black architect in Illinois. With the help of structural engineer Charles Sumner Duke, Bailey converted a one-story hat factory into the two-story church.
Now, with the help of grants, it’s set to undergo a second phase of restoration.
Phase one began with a $228,000 grant in 2019 from the Chicago Department of Planning and Development’s Adopt-a-Landmark fund. This included restoring the church’s facade and oak front doors.
Phase two will include the restoration of the stained glass windows and towers, as well as assessing work that needs to be done for the church’s campus.
“There is deterioration, and [the stained glass windows and towers] are in need of work. Some things may need to be replaced. … That’s something that we want to take care of and not allow to further deteriorate,” Thomas said.
This includes the church, a children’s church connected to the south part of the property and the Maggie Drummond Community Center & Day Care at 4301 S. Wabash Ave.
“[We want to] get the towers and the stained glass windows back to its original excellence,” she said. “This helps us to realize and achieve the goals that we have planned for phase two.”