With its unique green serpentine limestone exterior and distinctive 92-foot bell tower, Pullman’s Greenstone United Methodist Church is among the city’s oldest and most historic churches, having held down the corner of 112th and St. Lawrence since 1882.
But the expense of properly preserving a 140-year-old building that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a key contributor to Pullman’s architectural and overall significance, is no joke — especially for a congregation of less than 30 worshipping in a space built for 600.
“Never been a rich church,” said Greenstone’s pastor, the Rev. Luther Mason. “Never really had the money.”
So it was a pretty big deal when word came down in 2021 that the city was set to approve a $1 million grant to repair and reclad Greenstone’s distinctive bell tower.
The payout was slated to be the largest ever awarded to a church under the city’s Adopt-a-Landmark program.
But Pullman Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) and Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) used a parliamentary procedure to indefinitely table City Council approval of the funds.
And as a result, the cool million sits unallocated — and the tower remains undone — three years after the award was announced.
“I plan to bring it back up [for a vote],” Beale said Thursday.
But before then, Beale said, he wants to meet with Methodist church hierarchy to discuss Greenstone’s future, given its dwindling congregation and shallow coffers.
Regarding the meeting with Methodist officials: “I haven’t been able to get on their timetable,” Beale said.
In the meantime, Greenstone waits.
Historic church in a historic neighborhood
Greenstone was built when Pullman was not yet a city neighborhood, but a Victorian Era company town constructed by industrialist George Pullman.
Pullman surrounded his railroad car manufacturing company at 111th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, with a hamlet of brick-and-limestone rowhomes, and other structures — including Greenstone — that were all designed by architect Solon Beman.
Pullman’s days as a company town ended after the 1894 Pullman railroad workers strike. The labor battle turned national and violent, but left us with things such as the eight-hour workday, and much of the former town itself.
And that history and architecture helped preserve Pullman and has helped spark a current resurgence in the 140-year-old neighborhood.
Within the last decade, the neighborhood around the factory has become a National Historical Park — complete with Park Service rangers and guides operating out of an impressive National Park Service visitors center that was once the vacant former Pullman rail car factory and administration building.
In addition, commercial activity is replacing brownfields between Cottage Grove Avenue and the Bishop Ford Expressway. The neighborhood is also home to the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porters National Museum, 10406 S. Maryland Ave.
And last year, the Illinois General Assembly set aside $21 million to breathe new life into the disused Hotel Florence, an original Pullman building at 111th Street and Forrestville Avenue.
Greenstone deserves a place amid all this new activity. The church did receive a $145,000 grant from The National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2020 to stabilize the tower until the more expensive work covered by the city grant can take place.
But Mason, Greenstone’s pastor since 2013, said it’s now time to get the bigger tower project started.
“The church went through the stringent process to get that money, with nothing but 100% support across the board,” he said.
Mason said the church is having hard times financially.
“Our membership had dwindled,” he said. “On the books, there are 25 in membership and we worship six to 10 [on Sundays],” he said. “But every church is like this. Don’t nobody go to church no more.”
Mason said gas service to the building is currently disconnected after the church missed a $1,200 monthly payment plan installment.
“We owed $16,000 and they wanted it at once,” he said. But we’ve got it down to $8,000, $9,000. [The service] is still off, but we got it down. This has worn me the hell out.”
Mason said he wants to sit down with Beale about the grant. “Come talk to me,” said.
Meanwhile, the church tower is structurally stable, said National Trust for Historic Preservation Senior Director Tiffany Tolbert.
The organization gave Greenstone $150,000 in 2020 to stabilize the tower as a prelude to the more expensive work expected to be funded under the Adopt-a-Landmark grant.
Tolbert said many old churches are facing similar difficulties, so “Pullman and Greenstone is a great example of how a church can look to its future.”
And what is that future? Beale said he wants the National Park Service to take over Greenstone, just as it’s done with the former Pullman railroad car factory building,
“There’s no gas in the building — no air [conditioning],” he said. “Turn that building over to the National Park Service. We still have a million dollars waiting to stabilize the exterior, but what about the interior?”
Beale said the church would be “a great attraction,” under the National Park Service. “People want to see tourist attractions.”
Pullman National Monument Supt. Teri Gage said the agency would consider seeking buying a property only if it were in foreclosure or for sale.
But neither is the case at Greenstone.
“Our intent is to support the existing owners of the properties,” Gage said. That could mean providing technical assistance, funding or programming, she said.
Gage said she hasn’t had any discussions with Beale about a National Park Service takeover of Greenstone.
“[But] hopefully, there’s a partnership there,” she said.
Mason said he would be open to the United Methodist Church selling the church — but only to the National Park Service.
“Because they would get the history right,” he said.
But Mason said he’d rather the church seek a partnership that can take into account “what we’ve done and what we can support.”
Let the work begin
But what about that $1 million?
With each passing season, inflation eats away at the amount of work on the tower that can funded under that grant amount.
According to the online inflation calculator at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, it’ll take $1.27 million in 2024 to purchase what the $1.08 million grant would’ve gotten when the award was announced in 2021.
The delay does a disservice to the church, the Pullman community and taxpayers.
Besides, top-flight architects and engineers Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates are attached to the project along with Berglund Construction.
And the city grant is loaded with tons of regulations and clawbacks to protect the city’s investment.
Winter — routinely rough on building exteriors — is coming. It’s time for Beale to resolve his concerns and get the repair money released as soon as possible.
Lee Bey is the Sun-Times architecture critic. He is also a member of the Editorial Board.
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