Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Threatened

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Site overview

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is not just a beautiful example of Modernist religious architecture, but a memorial to perseverance. The original church was completed in 1867, a towering Gothic edifice that was destroyed completely (save for its bell) in 1972. Choosing not to flee to the suburbs like many other parishes of its time, the Diocese of Burlington chose instead to redevelop this site with a new, dynamic modern structure designed by noted architect and Edward Larrabee Barnes and landscape designer Daniel Urban Kiley. The result is a fascinatingly designed house of worship, with a beautifully landscape grounds that provide a sense of peace and refuge from the downtown of Burlington. Due to a declining number of worshippers, the Diocese chose to demolish the church, leaving this icon of downtown vulnerable and currently slated for destruction.

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Site overview

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is not just a beautiful example of Modernist religious architecture, but a memorial to perseverance. The original church was completed in 1867, a towering Gothic edifice that was destroyed completely (save for its bell) in 1972. Choosing not to flee to the suburbs like many other parishes of its time, the Diocese of Burlington chose instead to redevelop this site with a new, dynamic modern structure designed by noted architect and Edward Larrabee Barnes and landscape designer Daniel Urban Kiley. The result is a fascinatingly designed house of worship, with a beautifully landscape grounds that provide a sense of peace and refuge from the downtown of Burlington. Due to a declining number of worshippers, the Diocese chose to demolish the church, leaving this icon of downtown vulnerable and currently slated for destruction.

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Site overview

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is not just a beautiful example of Modernist religious architecture, but a memorial to perseverance. The original church was completed in 1867, a towering Gothic edifice that was destroyed completely (save for its bell) in 1972. Choosing not to flee to the suburbs like many other parishes of its time, the Diocese of Burlington chose instead to redevelop this site with a new, dynamic modern structure designed by noted architect and Edward Larrabee Barnes and landscape designer Daniel Urban Kiley. The result is a fascinatingly designed house of worship, with a beautifully landscape grounds that provide a sense of peace and refuge from the downtown of Burlington. Due to a declining number of worshippers, the Diocese chose to demolish the church, leaving this icon of downtown vulnerable and currently slated for destruction.

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Site overview

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is not just a beautiful example of Modernist religious architecture, but a memorial to perseverance. The original church was completed in 1867, a towering Gothic edifice that was destroyed completely (save for its bell) in 1972. Choosing not to flee to the suburbs like many other parishes of its time, the Diocese of Burlington chose instead to redevelop this site with a new, dynamic modern structure designed by noted architect and Edward Larrabee Barnes and landscape designer Daniel Urban Kiley. The result is a fascinatingly designed house of worship, with a beautifully landscape grounds that provide a sense of peace and refuge from the downtown of Burlington. Due to a declining number of worshippers, the Diocese chose to demolish the church, leaving this icon of downtown vulnerable and currently slated for destruction.

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Site overview

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is not just a beautiful example of Modernist religious architecture, but a memorial to perseverance. The original church was completed in 1867, a towering Gothic edifice that was destroyed completely (save for its bell) in 1972. Choosing not to flee to the suburbs like many other parishes of its time, the Diocese of Burlington chose instead to redevelop this site with a new, dynamic modern structure designed by noted architect and Edward Larrabee Barnes and landscape designer Daniel Urban Kiley. The result is a fascinatingly designed house of worship, with a beautifully landscape grounds that provide a sense of peace and refuge from the downtown of Burlington. Due to a declining number of worshippers, the Diocese chose to demolish the church, leaving this icon of downtown vulnerable and currently slated for destruction.

Commission

1974

Completion

1977

Original Brief

The original Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was consecrated in 1867, the work of prominent Brooklyn architect Patrick Keely. However, this soaring Gothic structure was destroyed in an arson attack in 1972, with only the bell of the original Church’s tower being preserved. Instead of relocating to the suburbs, the Diocese maintained its commitment to the downtown Burlington area and worked to enhance the built environment of the city with a bold, new Modernist campus and church building.  The building itself is a collaboration between noted postwar architects; Edward Larrabee Barnes and Daniel Urban Kiley, the latter a Vermont resident who lived in Charlotte. The two collaborated closely on the project, something that can be seen more clearly in the interplay between the color and form of the building and the surrounding environment. With the continuation of urban renewal, the neighborhoods that once supported the parish were removed, lowering attendance further. The neighboring Saint Joseph Church was combined with the parish in 2017, though parishioner numbers continued to fall below 100. This continued until the sale of the property was proposed by the Diocese of Burlington in 2018, applying for a demolition permit in 2021.

General Description

Immaculate Conception was conceived by successful New York architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, who used the Billings Memorial Library at the University of Vermont as a source of inspiration. The sanctuary is designed in a late modern style, comprised of five low-slung brick walls topped by a high standing seam copper roof. A large cross adorns to the roof of the clerestory. The bell tower on one corner of the site contains the bell from the original 1867 cathedral, situated within a new open free-standing tower structure. The outdoor landscaping was completed by Vermont local and noted landscape architect Daniel Kiley, who had a long history of collaboration with Barnes. The pair interplayed the structure with its landscaped surroundings, using color and form to create a cohesive and peaceful public space that provides refuge from the downtown of Burlington. Kiley’s array of uniformly spaced locust trees is reminiscent of his masterpiece and international Modernist icon, the Miller House and Garden. With the Diocese choosing to demolish the structure in 2021, preservations are looking to readapt this iconic structure to a modern use.