Los Angeles herald., 1905-12-22
CHURCH WILL Be
MARVEL OF BEAUTY
ST. AGNES TO BE ONE OF FIN
EST EDlFICEs IN CITY
Structure Will BE Thirteenth Gen.
tury French Gothic Architee-
ture--Many New Features
! Are Planned -...

Modern in every detail. yet carrying
out the traditions of the early Chris
tian church, will be the new st. Ag-
mes church, corner West Adams street
and Vermont avenue, on which work
mas already been begun This church.
when completed, will be one Of the
finest in Los Angeles, which already
boasts many fine church edihces.
The architecture of the edlf1ce will
be pure French gothic of the thir-
teenth century. The building will be
of granite, which will present an inn
posing appearance. II being the only
church of its kind here. The church
will cover a floor space of 62x147 feet,
fronting on Adams street. The tran
sept will be 72 feet wide and 2S feet
deep.
There will be no pillars in the in
terror, which will make every seat
available. In order to redieve the un-
supported effect. half arches will ex-
tend from the side walls and the roof,
which will be in the prevailing gothic
style. The floor will incline two and
one-half feet from the entrance to a
sanctuary. st. Agnes church will be
the first Catholic church In Los An
geles with an inclined floor
Another artistic and novel feature
of this church will be the lighting,
which will be furnished by 1900 eight
candle power lights arranged in the
arches, no fixtures being visible. The
windows will be of Munich stained
glass, with seven in the sanctuary
grouped about the central window,
which will contain the figure Of st.
Agnes, the virgin martyr, patroness
of the parish. This window will be
above the main altar, which will be OF
At-t. e.A-V
which will be executed in Italy. I'm
der this altar will be figure in wax
of st. Agnes in the tomb. In this
figure, which will be life size. will be
placed some rare relics of the saint
which are to be brought here by Bishop
Conaty from Rome as the special gift
of the pope to St. Agnes church. The
two side altars will be in the same
style as the main altar. and will be
adorned with several statues.
g"-e Chapel in Connection
Another novel feature in church
building in Los Angeles. but which is
popular elsewhere, will be the chapel
to be connected with the church on
the west. This chapel, which will be
parallel with Adams street will be 40S
20 feet and connected with the sa-
cristy of the church, which will be ac
cessible from both church and chapel.
The chapel will be in the prevailing
gothic, with an altar of Carara marble
and will have separate entrance
from Adams street. 1t will form an
L with the main building, which space
will be adorned with a garden and a
fountain.
The chapel will be USED for the chill
dren's mass on Sunday and for Sunday
school: also Sunday evening services
and daily mass, giving more devo-
ticnal spirit to smaller services than
would the large main church. The
seating capacity Of the chapel will be
250 while that of the church will be
700. The interior finish will be of oak,
as will also be the pews A bell weigh
ing 5000 pounds will be placed in the
northeast tower. while the baptistry
will be below the northwest tower.
The church property extends 270 feet
on Adams street and 155 feet on Ver
mont avenue. A fine parochial resi-
dcnce adjoiirs the site of the new
church, and later a convent will be
erected. r--.. -.-
Plans are already being made for
the parochial school, which will be at
the northeast corner of West Adams
and Romeo streets, one block west
of the church. This will he a substan-
tial eight-room structure with n large
basement and club rooms for the young
men of the parish.
1t is expected that Bishop Conaty
will lay the corner stone of the new
church January q. the feast day of
the patronness, and that the church
will be completed for the Christmas
services of 1906.
This parish was organized about two
years ago by Bishop Conaty who made
Rev. c. Molony, his secretary, pas
tor. Since his appointement, Father
Molony has been steadily upbuiIding
the parish. Father Molony has taken
an especially active interest in the
architectural plans and has greatly
aided the architects Walsh, Maginnis
and Sullivan, in arranging the church