THE LAST COMMISSION

Copyright © 1999 by David H. Fox.  All Rights Reserved

On 12 November 1919, G. A. Audsley was appointed architect for the construction of a school for the Saint Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Parish of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The parish had been established but one month earlier and the appointment motivated by knowledge Audsley's work at Saint Edward's Church in the same city.

The Audsleys had earlier designed a school for the Saint Mary, Our Lady, Star of the Sea Parish in Bayonne, New Jersey.  This was erected on 13th Street, east of Avenue C, in 1898. .        Gladys Mellor Sinclair, Bayonne Old and New (New York: Maranatha Publishers, 1940), 139.  Red bricks and contrasting bands of light color stone were employed so as to harmonize with the existing church, rectory, and convent.  A new school building was opened in 1961 and the Audsley structure demolished. .        Allen Johnson (Ed.), Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1943), 1:422.

Father Edward Hawks described his dealing with G. A. Audsley in his History of the Parish of St. Joan of Arc, Philadelphia, PA:

I already had my architect for the permanent building.  When I was at St. Edward's as a curate before the war [W.W. I], it was my happiness to meet Mr. George Audsley, the distinguished architect of that magnificent building.  I promised him then that if I ever had to build a Church he should build it for me.  My residence at the St. Edward's Rectory after my return from France reminded me of this promise.  I made no mistake although he was now an octogenarian; but what an octogenarian!  He had the soul of a child.  I wrote to him at once.  After Christmas he came to stay with me at the store [temporary rectory].  He had already a plan in his mind.  We decided to visit a number of new schools in order to get ideas, amongst others the Nativity, St. Agatha's and St. Edward's.  We interviewed the Sisters of carious Orders to discuss ventilation, cloak rooms and other problems.  We even picked out bricks that seemed most suitable.

Mr. Audsley entered into the undertaking with boyish eagerness.  His visits were frequent.  He was versatile.  Architecture was not his original profession [sic].  He had been a skilled reproducer of ancient documents and designs.  His chief hobby was building organs.  An organ of his, which won a prize at the St. Louis Exposition, is now a part of the large instrument in Wanamaker's Store....

At night in the room which served as parlor, dining and sitting-room he and I used to build the future Church of St. Joan of Arc in fancy.  He would have liked a Gothic building; something that would recall the chivalrous days of its patron saint.  It was to be emblazoned by way of decoration with the shields of all the cities connected with her short career of glory.  Alas for such dreams?  Since we sat dreaming the fabric of society has been changed and such dreams belong to an age that has passed away....

Meanwhile the architect was busy on the plans for the School which was also to serve as a temporary Church.  It is amazing to know that this octogenarian had finished his work and received the approbation of the Diocesan Building Committee by the 4th March 1920.  He and I submitted them on February 13th to Father Nash who promised to bring them before Monsignor Sinnott and Father Daley, the other members of the Committee.  We were highly complimented on the work.  In returning the plans to me at the later date Father Nash said that they were the best that had ever been offered to him.  The Committee has no criticisms to make nor any changes to suggest....

Something has already been said of the planning of the School.  It was, of course, hoped that its building would commence almost at once.  The depression of 1920-1921 stopped us.  The price of steel was prohibitive; the bricklayers were on strike.  Another reason for delay was the temporary school which was found sufficient for present purposes.  When all the plans had been drawn and had passed various scrutinies, they were laid aside.  Amongst those who approved of them was the Rector of the Nativity Church, himself a school builder.  He was enthusiastic about them.  We were in the second year of our parochial existence when a letter arrived from the architect, on September 18, 1921.  Mr. Audsley had consulted with his brethren of the profession and had discovered that immediate building would capture satisfactory prices.

Two summers in the Blacksmith Shop [a temporary location]  had convinced us that every possible effort must be made to build.  Permission was applied for and it was received on October 5th.  We chose our contracts carefully sending them the plans and specifications on October 24.  The bids were to be submitted on November 16th.  It was decided that the whole building should be erected but only the auditorium and the stairways should be completed.  As the school rooms would not be needed until the fall of 1923, the two upper floors could be left in the rough without partitions.

There was much excitement when the bids arrived.  None were opened until they had all been received.  Mr. Audsley was the soul of fairness.  The lowest bidder was to be awarded the contract since no one was allowed to bid who did not come up to his standards of work.  There were five bidders and the range of prices was not very large.  The contract was awarded to Melody and Keating at a price of $129,120.  There were no extras, indeed, there were reductions in regard to waterproofing and other details.

Mr. Audsley was delighted with the decision since he had already been associated with this firm when it built his church of St. Edward.  A few days later the Continental-Equitable Trust Society agreed to finance the venture and nothing prevented work but the bricklayers strike which had run into many months.  It was, however, decided to put in the cement foundations before frost set in.  The contract was signed by the Cardinal on November 18th and on the following Sunday the ground was formally at 4:15 in the afternoon in the presence of a large gathering of parishioners.

Day by day we awaited the arrival of the steam shovel.  After what seemed an endless delay it arrived on December 13.  The cement footings were laid at once before the ground, which was of the firmest brick clay, had any chance of falling in.  Then came the frost and we had to wait once more.  the winter was very mild and it was possible for the stone masons to lay the heavy foundations in the early part of January.  They brought them up to ground level.

The first plans provided that the auditorium should be about eighteen feet below the ground level.  The City Hall, however, raised an objection.  If this arrangement was to be followed it would be necessary to provide ramps instead of stairways for the exits; and this in turn would mean the building of a retaining wall that would have increased the price by many thousands of dollars.  Mr. Audsley met the difficulty by raising the whole building and providing plans for a new front elevation to harmonize with the alteration.  It was a satisfactory change.  The proximity of the neighboring houses really made it desirable to place the school-rooms as high as possible.  The basement auditorium was changed into a temporary Church.  This is the explanation of its character.  We had previously intended to hold services temporarily on the first school floor.  It was well that this difficulty occurred, for it was not many years before we needed more space for school rooms than one floor would have provided.

On January 24 the steel began to arrive.  The building was to be completely fire-proof; even the floors were to be nailed to a new cement with the use of sleepers.  Practically no wood entered into the construction,f or the partitions were built later on from gypsum.  Early in February the bricklayers strike was settled.  Our building was the first to profit by it; indeed, it was by persuading Mr. Melody to withdraw from the Masters Builders Committee that we were able to bring this happy solution of a very serious situation.

Throughout the month of February the brickwork progressed like magic, whilst the great steel columns and beams were being erected.  I tried my had at rivetting and was able to put in a few bolts under close supervision.  I leant then what heavy work it was to sit aloft and bear the constant vibration of the compressed air riveter.  The cement of the first floor was poured on March 16th.  I remember the occasion very well.  From our elevation we could see the Delaware river and there was a fresh breeze flowing.  My friend, the building inspector, with whom I had once a controversy, was watching the proceedings and he expressed his admiration for the strength of the construction.

We left a portion of the wall at the south-western corner below level so that the solemnity of the corner stone laying might take place in fair weather.  Bishop Crane officiated on Palm Sunday.  Before the ceremony the Bricklayers Union requested the pleasure of making him an honorary member of their guild to record the settlement of the strike.  Bishop Crane was compelled to refuse this kind suggestion for reasons that are obvious.  Mr. Audsley appeared in his best and superintended the laying of the beautiful stone that he had designed, a gift of the stone contractor.  In it were placed various articles destined to prove the date of the event....

By the end of May the brickwork was finished and in another month the roof was on.  The plastering began at once.  On July 2 the first mass was said in the new building on the middle floor.  For one month the Sunday masses were celebrated in this inconvenient place, the floor being of unfinished cement.  The plasters completed their work in the Auditorium by the end of July.  On August 6 mass was said here, the floor being still unfinished.  Everything was practically in order by October 8 [1922]. .        Edward Hawks, History of the Parish of St. Joan of Arc, Philadelphia, PA (Philadelphia: 1937), 16-19, 45-49.

The motif of a cross within a circle that appeared on the school's corner stone had been earlier used by Audsley on the family monument at Mount Hope Cemetery in Yonkers, New York.  It would serve as the marker of his final resting place upon his death on 21 June 1925.