Building
The Moody Church building is located at the corners of North Avenue, North Clark and LaSalle Street. Construction on the building, designed by architects Fugard and Knapp, was begun in 1924 and completed a year later. The formal dedication was held on November 8, 1925. Covering an area of 140 feet by 225 feet, The Moody Church melds features of both Romanesque and Byzantine architecture, and is one of the largest Romanesque churches in the US. Visually, it was intended to bridge the gap between the traditional Roman Catholic cathedral and the typical Protestant church buildings of the late 19th century and early 20th century. The building was originally intended to be 20 feet longer, but due to widening of LaSalle Street, the layout had to be altered; this is believed by some to be the reason for the unusually steep choir loft. From floor to the false acoustic ceiling is 68 feet, and the structural ceiling is 10 to 15 feet above that.
The resulting building remains the largest non-pillared auditorium in the Chicago area, and has permanent seating for 3,740 people, 2,270 on the main floor, with an additional 1,470 in the balcony. The curved balcony was one of the earliest examples of cantilevered construction, and its curvature – as well as the rest of the layout of the auditorium – was designed so that all lines focus on the pulpit. Designed in an era before modern sound systems, the building has almost-perfect acoustics, and it is reported that the only element detracting from this aspect is the floor carpet.
Although a modern environmental system has been installed, when the church was originally built, summer cooling was provided by means of a large pit in an alley in back of the building, where large loads of ice would be dumped. Air was then blown over the ice and out of mushroom-shaped vents under the auditorium seats. The system could recirculate the church’s air in six minutes.
The large chandeliers that hang in the auditorium are traditionally believed to have been produced by Tiffany, although they are unsigned and there are no records to confirm or deny this. Above the balcony, around the perimeter of the building, are 36 large stained glass windows, no two of which are alike. All were donated as memorials.
When originally built, the church did not have an organ, but later a 4-manual Reuter organ with 4,400 pipes in 54 ranks was added. The pipes visible in the sanctuary are merely decorative, the actual instruments being hidden behind a black curtain.
In January, 1986, a fire in the front of the church caused $500,000 damage to the pulpit, choir loft and organ. During the rebuilding, a modern audio-visual system was installed. One of the newest additions to the sanctuary are a pair of "movie" screens. These ascending screens are currently the tallest in the US.
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