NEW YORK�After a 14-month restoration project, Fordham will dedicate the renovated University Church on Wednesday, Oct. 13, at 2 p.m. on the Rose Hill campus.� His Eminence, Edward Cardinal Egan, J.C.D., D.D., of the Archdiocese of New York will preside over the liturgy.
The 159-year-old structure underwent a comprehensive exterior restoration, during which crews re-pointed the entire building, treated the marble stonework to prevent further deterioration, replaced exterior woodwork and restored windows in the nave. A permanent entrance ramp for the disabled was also installed.
The University Church, which was declared a New York City landmark in 1970, was built in 1845 as a seminary chapel and parish church for surrounding farms. It has not had a major renovation since 1929, when its capacity was expanded from 400 to 1,200.
Also known as Old St. John’s, the Church provides the University and surrounding communities with one of the finest examples of Gothic construction that the Bronx has to offer. It is probably most famous for the six 19th-century stained glass windows lining the nave, which were originally gifts of King Louis Philippe of France to Archbishop John Hughes for Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral (still standing on Mulberry Street in Manhattan). However, the windows did not fit in Old St. Patrick’s and were instead given to Fordham.
Created in Sevres, France, the stained glass windows depict the four evangelists and St. Peter and St. Paul.
The bell in the Church’s tower is rumored to have inspired Edgar Allan Poe, who lived in the Bronx from 1846 to 1849, to pen his celebrated poem “The Bells.” The bell is known as Old Edgar Allen.
DATE: WED., OCT. 13
TIME: 2 P.M.
PLACE: UNIVERSITY CHURCH, 441 E. FORDHAM ROAD, BRONX, NY
