Architectural
History of The Moody Church A trusted place where
anyone can connect with God and others.
Main Building
Architects: Fugard and Knapp
Construction: Began 1924; Completed 1925; Dedicated
on November 8, 1925
Size: 140 x 225 feet
Styles that influenced the architecture:
Romanesque (windows and arches) – over 320
doors
Byzantine (exterior on the Clark Street side)
One of the largest Romanesque churches in the US
– a bridge between the Catholic cathedrals and the Protestant
churches
Steel superstructures with brick overlay
Originally designed to be 20 feet longer to the
west, but was cut off because of LaSalle Street expansion (could be
the reason for the steep choir loft)
Auditorium
Largest non-pillared auditorium in Chicago
120 x 184 feet
From floor to ceiling = 68 feet (possibly as high
as 88 feet)
Fake ceiling (covered with acoustical tiles); Actual
ceiling is 10-15 feet above what is seen
Seats approximately 3,800 (2,270 main floor, 1,470
balcony)
Curved seating so pulpit is visible from every seat
– all lines are drawn to the pulpit
5 different sizes of seats to compensate for curve
24 doors
Proscenium arch above platform
Exterior is glazed plaster – decorative in
nature
Behind it is one of the main bearing walls
Reported to have perfect acoustics if carpeting
was removed
Balcony
One of the earliest examples of a cantilevered balcony
(meaning ‘it hangs off’ – no support)
Curved to provide optimal viewing of the pulpit
365
columns around the balcony – one
for each day of the year
Chandeliers
Believed to be Tiffany, though not marked
All light fixtures are original
7 feet in diameter, 16 feet in height
Each uses 12 200-watt bulbs
Grid work in each will support a grown man
Stained Glass Windows
36 large windows
Given in memory of various pastors and laymen
All were donated
No two are identical, though all follow a theme
Fire in January 1986
$500,000 in damage including:
organ
piano
sound system
pulpit
Pulpit was rebuilt using photos and using the Communion
table which had been out in the hallway, escaping damage.
Organ
Originally there was no organ
Four-manual Reuter organ
4,400 pipes, 54 ranks
The visible pipes are decorative in nature
True pipes housed behind black drape in organ loft
Pipes range from the size of pencil to 2-foot square
Air Conditioning
Operational for summer 2002
Cost $1.5 Million
Multimedia
Installed in March 2003
Cost $260,000
Largest ascending screens in the US by 2 1/2 feet
Reaching Toward Tomorrow Capital Campaign
Kicked off in May 2000, finished up May 2003
Goal to build Family Life Center
Apartment buildings to the north of the church were
purchased in 1994
Alleyway between the church and the apartment buildings
were given to the church in 2000
Parking lot on the corner of North and LaSalle purchased
in 2002 for $3.8 Million
Fun Trivia
D.L. Moody never preached at this location
Originally there were no bathrooms on the first
floor
Building has 15 different roofs of 6 different materials
including shingles, tile and copper
Large ‘pit’ in alley is where semi-truckloads
of ice were dumped, then fanned into the ‘mushrooms’ under
the seats to provide air conditioning
Air could be re-circulated every 6 minutes
Lighting, heating and ventilating systems were the
most advanced engineering standards of the time when the building was
built
