Brophy College Chapel

Brophy College Chapel
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	4701 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, Arizona
Coordinates	33°30′18″N 112°4′19″W / 33.50500°N 112.07194°WCoordinates: 33°30′18″N 112°4′19″W / 33.50500°N 112.07194°W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1928
Architect	Lescher & Mahoney; E. J. Wasielewski
Architectural style	Mission/Spanish Revival
MPS	Religious Architecture in Phoenix MPS
NRHP Reference #	93000747[1]
Added to NRHP	August 10, 1993

The chapel at Brophy College Preparatory, a high school and former college in central Phoenix, Arizona, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in that state. It was listed on the NRHP in 1993.

History and architecture

The building was constructed in 1928 (the cornerstone was laid on April 29) along with the original school as a donation from Mrs. William Henry Brophy in memory of her late husband.^[2] The Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival building was built from brick with stucco facing, along with clay tile for the roof. It was designed by Lescher & Mahoney, prominent local architects who also designed several other NRHP-listed buildings in Phoenix, and built by the E.J. Wasielewski Construction Company.

Situated along Phoenix's Central Avenue in mid-town, the bell tower of the chapel, which is 135 feet (41 m) tall and topped with a dome and cross, is the focal point of the campus as well as Brophy's logo.

The chapel is square and measures 100x100 feet. It is two and a half stories tall. Various pilasters divide the building into vertical bays.

Interior architecture

The building's altar is made of pink tufa stone, quarried near Wickenburg, designed in a Mexican baroque style.^[2] A painting of the Holy Family, made by an unknown Italian artist in the 15th century, is framed above. Inside the sacristy, a 1670 crucifix from the Monk's Cemetery at Evaux in France — a survivor of the World War I Battle of Verdun — is hung.

Local blacksmiths made the heavily Spanish-inspired wrought iron chandeliers. Other metalwork includes the original Communion rail, moved after Vatican Council II to a side altar.^[2]

The stained glass windows were executed in Dublin, Ireland, by the artists of An Tur Gloine. All except the one in the choir loft had been ordered by 1934; a local artist was commissioned to create this remaining window in 1985.^[2]

Parish use

In 1928, St. Francis parish was established as the second in Phoenix (St. Mary's was the first). The Brophy chapel served as the parish until 1959.^[2]

The building's significance derives from this Southwestern Regional architecture.

References

1. National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. http://www.brophyprep.org/?page_id=70

• The NRHP nomination form (not available through NPS Focus)