The possession of something extraordinary isn’t always such a wonderful thing.
Look, the mural seemed to say to passersby, here is something so urgent, it has spilled out from the constraints of proper stained glass windows to cover every inch of this facade.
The Northside Stranger’s Home building was an Episcopal church when it was built in 1901. Catholics took it over in 1927, when the neighborhood was largely Italian, renaming it San Marcello. In the early 1970s it was run by a Benedictine priest, Dennis Kendrick, who raised money for repairs, allowed a counseling center for heroin addicts to set up in the basement, and commissioned Bill Walker to turn the structure into a work of art.
This fall, on the market at $999,900, the building found a buyer. A representative for the church board, who didn’t want her name used, confirmed that a contract has been signed and the sale is pending. Preservationists were given five days to find the money to either move the mural—which Pounds says is not a viable option—or to counter the offer and buy the building.
