A friend and I were talking about this church recently, so I thought I would drive by and see how it was doing. The old St. Mark’s is not doing well, completely open to the elements and shorn of all of its copper gutters and roofing.
I looked at it back in July of 2018.
And again in November of 2020.
Note the ladder below that the thieves used to get up on the roof.
The school is sitting empty, as well. A coworker who attended St. Cronan’s school told me she then attended St. Mark’s high school when she was older. There was a rumor that the basement originally had a swimming pool.
One of my great aunts attended here- nice to see photos of it despite the decline. I am reading through the history of the archdiocese of st louis by Fr Michael Witt. So many older churches from the past carried such beauty and craftsman ship.
The old church & school look like they could be the ruins of an old abbey & castle in Europe (if you look past the broken sidewalks, & concrete street barricades, etc.)