Join our family of curious Kansas Citians

Discover unheard stories about Kansas City, every Thursday.

Thank you for subscribing!

Check your inbox, you should see something from us.

Sign Me Up
Hit enter to search or ESC to close

Community Christian Sparks Campaign to Rekindle ‘Steeple of Light’

Share this story
Sponsor Message Become a Flatland sponsor
3 minute read

By Kevin Collison

Community Christian Church has been baptized officially as a historic building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, a designation that’s sparking a fundraising campaign to rekindle its signature “Steeple of Light.”

The church at 4601 Main is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, part of a  strategy to revitalize the aging structure that opened in 1942. It’s near the planned Main Street streetcar stop at 45th Street.

“The last two years have been about making friends for our building,” said the Rev. Shanna Steitz, senior minister at the church.

She said the effort to achieve historic designation began two years ago when she was alarmed the congregation of the nearby Seventh Church of Christ, Scientist, at 47th and Pennsylvania, was planning to sell their building as a development site.

The Community Christian Church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright opened at 4601 Main in 1942. (Photo by Brad Finch)

While that plan ultimately fell through, Steitz was impressed by the effort of Historic Kansas City and other preservation-minded people to save it.

“I thought, we’re trying to preserve our building, these are folks who could help us,” she said.

“I didn’t want to be the falling-down church selling their property to developers.”

She reached out to then City Councilwoman Jan Marcason for guidance. That led to a meeting with Lisa Briscoe, Historic KC executive director, and Councilwoman Katheryn Shields in early 2019.

“I asked, ‘where do we start to do what we need to do for this building?'” Steitz said. “It became clear to us that being listed on the National Historic Register was a great first step.”

A recent test of a replacement light cannon for the Steeple of Light. (Image from Community Christian Church)

While many people believed the three-story, concrete building designed by the world-renowned architect already was listed, that was not the case. Wright famously dropped the project when it was far along in construction.

“He never got crosswise with the congregation, but with the city,” Steitz said.

The first step was documenting Wright’s work.

Avery Library at Columbia University in New York is the repository for Wright’s archives  and the church was able to obtain 91 digital copies of his original drawings for Community Christian, invaluable in preparing its National Register application.

The Kansas City church is one of 10 in the country designed by Wright.

Steitz said Elizabeth Rosin of Rosin Preservation educated church members about what it meant to be listed on the Historic Register and prepared the application.

About 250 people worship there on average Sundays, although services have been online during the pandemic.

“She dispelled a lot of myths,” the pastor noted.

In her application, Rosin acknowledged that while Wright didn’t finish the project, the structure clearly belonged to him:

“Although some portions of Wright’s original design were not built as drawn, such as an attached parking garage and chapel, the Community Church clearly conveys Wright’s design intent and provides an excellent example of the shift in his body of work from Prairie to Usonian while maintaining his consistent design philosophy that the site should provide inspiration for the building.”

One of the architectural drawings done by Frank Lloyd Wright kept at his archives at Columbia University in New York. (Image from National Historic Register application)

Parallel to the push for the historic designation, the church established a “Wright on Main” non-profit group to allow individuals and foundations to make contributions to help preserve the church without it being a religious donation.

The decision was made to begin fundraising by setting a $100,000 goal to relight the Steeple of Light. It was envisioned by Wright and designed into reality by Dale Eldred in 1994, according to a press release from the church.

By the time Steitz arrived at Community Christian five years ago, the Steeple had dimmed considerably. The church finally pulled the plug on its eye-catching architectural feature about a year ago.

“The restoration of the Steeple isn’t cheap, but it seemed to be something that would gather enthusiasm and attention to the building,” Steitz said.

“It was a good kickoff for us so people could learned more about us and what we want to do.”

The four “light cannons” that create the Steeple of Light at Community Christian are in disrepair. (Image from National Historic Register application)

An Omaha firm, Strong Lighting, has been retained to replace the four “light cannons” that transmit the beams. It also does the lighting for the St. Louis Arch. The dome protecting the equipment also needs temporary repairs.

Once the funding is raised for the lights, the next phase will be lining up money for what’s called a historic structure report. The church already has been helped by Strata Architecture + Preservation on that front.

The report will be necessary to guide what Steitz ultimately will be a plan for a complete restoration of the building, which like many of Wright’s renowned designs, has its practical problems.

“We have all those issues of leaking buildings and internal plumbing,” she said. “That’s where the historic structure report comes into play to create long-term sustainability plans.”

Like what you are reading?

Discover more unheard stories about Kansas City, every Thursday.

Thank you for subscribing!

Check your inbox, you should see something from us.

Enter Email
Reading these stories is free, but telling them is not. Start your monthly gift now to support Flatland’s community-focused reporting. Support Local Journalism
Sponsor Message Become a Flatland sponsor

Ready to read next

Weekend Possibilities | Boo at the Zoo, Sporting KC and a Rescue Dog Show

Plenty of In-Person and Online Options

Read Story

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *