The original section (grotto chapel) of the church, designed by Daus & Otto and built between the years 1909 and 1910, is enclosed in the semicircular apse around which architects Cross & Cross constructed the main body of the church. The Office for Metropolitan History database 1900-1986 lists a record for the planned chapel dated 1909; a one-story brick and stone church, 34.2 x 80.7, to be built at a cost of $50,000 (equivalent in 2014: $1,340,000).
Photo below: Original Notre Dame Chapel structure designed by Daus & Otto
West 114th Street and Morningside Drive. Church. Wurts Bros. NY
Notre Dame was the only church and first major project undertaken by Cross & Cross, who also designed many of New York’s classic banks and post offices, as well as the Tiffany building on Fifth Ave and 57th Street, the General Electric Building at Rockefeller Plaza and the Aetna Life Insurance building downtown. It is no coincidence that the architects were nephews of Notre Dame’s patron, Mrs. Redmond, who commissioned a number of their early projects. (Source: Pennoyer, Peter, Anne Walker, Robert A. M. Stern, and Jonathan Wallen. 2014. (New York transformed: the architecture of Cross & Cross).
Photographs of two architectural renderings and a floor plan by Cross & Cross (Museum of the City of New York below) provide evidence that two different designs for Notre Dame were originally considered. The plan that was not chosen depicts a narrower structure with distinct north and south transepts and a baptistry that protrudes from the exterior southeast corner, as well as classrooms along the northeast wall of the church. The rendering for this plan also shows a much smaller dome placed over the sanctuary rather than the nave. Since there is no mention of two architectural plans in any of the church’s historical accounts, the reason for one being chosen over the other remains a mystery.
Below: Architectural rendering showing a plan for the Church of Notre Dame which ultimately was not chosen.
114th Street and Morningside Avenue. Notre Dame Church, watercolor rendering. Wurts Bros. NY
Floor plan for the church as rendered above.
114th Street and Morningside Avenue. Notre Dame Church, floor plan. Wurts Bros. NY
A main feature reminiscent of French 19th c. classicism is the band of swagged garlands, similar to that on the Church of the Madeleine in Paris, following the entablature around the top of the building. Blueprints in the Notre Dame archive indicate that the swagged garlands and some of the other ornamental designs that had appeared on the Daus & Otto Structure were intentionally reproduced by Cross & Cross.
A large dome, planned by the architects but never realized, was modeled after the Church of Saint Louis in Paris, better known as L'Eglise des Invalides and as the final resting place of Napoleon the First. Around the inside border of the dome is carved the text of the Ave Maria (Hail Mary) (Luke 1:28; 1:42).
Below: Architectural rendering of a plan for the church as it stands today, minus the dome.
Church of Notre Dame L'Eglise de Notre-Dame, pencil rendering. Wurts Bros. NY
Below: Architects' model of the Church of Notre Dame which currently resides in the Notre Dame rectory. Photos from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
The cornerstone of the church was laid on November 25, 1914 and construction of the church exterior began under the general contract of Norcross Brothers. Estimated cost for the construction was $800,000 (equivalent in 2014: $19,500,000). A. Pearlman Iron Works was contracted to complete the ornamental iron work. The building was constructed to be “strictly fireproof” (Real Estate Record and Builders’ Guide, March 28, 1914).
During the years 1914-1916, the exterior of the building was completed, but the interior remained in an unfinished state of rough brick for the next four years. Previous Notre Dame histories and the National Register of Historic Places in New York inventory name Catholic philanthropist Thomas Fortune Ryan and his wife as major contributors to the construction of Notre Dame during this period; however, no official documentation to substantiate the claim has been discovered.
In June of 1916, Niewenhous Bros. received the contract to erect the interior stone work, including the chapels. The interior is constructed of imitation Caen stone and Hauteville marble. For the next decade, work on the church interior continued; however, due to the Great Depression, all work halted in 1928.
Ca. 1946, the George Fuller Co. was contracted for restoration of the church exterior. Between 1964 and 1966, extensive repairs to the interior of the church and rectory were made, and plans to erect a dome were finally abandoned. The pews were refurbished, church floor covering replaced, entire interior stonework restored, the central ceiling repaired and embellished, and the organ repaired. Artificial lighting was installed to replace the natural light that would have been supplied by windows in the dome.
The Real Estate Record and Builders’ Guide (September 11, 1915) states that the Church of Notre Dame has a floor arch with the largest clear span in the world (60 feet). The span is formed of four courses of Guastavino tile.
The Church of Notre Dame was a featured site on the famous architectural historian Henry Hope Reed Jr.’s walking tours under the auspices of the Museum of the City of New York in 1960. Mr. Reed wrote to Notre Dame pastor Msgr. Daniel J. Donovan, “The promenaders are always pleased to come on a church such as yours because it represents a part of the city which they have neglected. It comes as a surprise to them that the city can boast of a church as beautiful as the Church of Notre Dame.”
In 1889 Rafael Guastavino I incorporated the Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company (later the R. Guastavino Co.) The materials used in construction, terracotta and hydraulic cement, are completely non-combustible. Furthermore, the arches constructed by this method compare favorably with steel beams and the tiles have been proven to be practically indestructible. Guastavino’s “Ackoustolith” is a patented design of molded pumice particles that contain small air spaces. It was advertised as being 60% effective in absorbing sounds. Guastavino’s work can be seen in buildings throughout New England and the tri-state area, including the Boston Public Library, Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, Low Library of Columbia University, Union Theological Seminary, Saint Thomas Episcopal Church, and the chapel in the Cloisters Museum. The Church of Notre Dame’s coffered ceiling dome cornice and pendentives in ornamental Akoustolith were featured in Architecture (March 1922).
More about Guastavino tiles
The Guastavino Project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Guastavino.net. Accessed 6/4/2015.
Museum of the City of New York, Palaces for People, Exhibit March 26-Sept 7, 2014. Accessed 6/4/2015.
Museum of the City of New York, Palaces for People, Exhibit March 26-Sept 7, 2014. Accessed 6/4/2015.
New York Times. Marilynn K. Yee. "With Vaults and Domes, Two Architects Left Their Imprint on City," April 23, 2014. Accessed 6/4/2015.
Office for Metropolitan History Manhattan building database DOB NB#30
Pennoyer, Peter, Anne Walker, Robert A. M. Stern, and Jonathan Wallen. 2014. New York transformed: the architecture of Cross & Cross.
Dollar equivalents have been calculated using the online resource Measuring Worth
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