Update: I went back and looked at the church next door in December of 2020.

I’ll be honest, when I first read that Saints Mary and Joseph School in Carondelet was being demolished, I really didn’t get too upset. The building looked sort of boring, and that buff brick accented with off-white terracotta didn’t really catch my eye.

How wrong I was! On a lark, I headed down to the school anyway, and was greatly impressed with the Mannerist/eclectic terracotta details, particularly on the front portal of the building.

I didn’t truly see how wonderful the terracotta ornament really is; the obelisks and drapery swags show what St. Louis artists could accomplish back in the day.

I realize a later butchering of the window treatments with glass block had helped to obscure the beauty of the building, with its otherwise clean, straight lines.

In fairness, the school towered disproportionately over the Gothic Revival church next door, but that isn’t a good enough reason to demolish it.