104 E Park St

104 E Park St

Grant

Montfort

1925

house of worship

Late Gothic Revival

Brick

Y

No

Updated 8/2024: Carol Cartwright The church is a late Gothic Revival style building with a rectangular form and a large modern front ell. The original main block is constructed of red brick and has a gable roof and concrete foundation. The side walls are decorated with shallow buttresses and have symmetrical gothic-arched openings filled with paired gothic-arched pictorial stained glass windows sitting on horizontal transoms, also filled with stained glass. On one side wall is a secondary entrance that features a gothic arched opening filled with a single wood door with rectangular stained glass window topped with a pair of gothic-arched windows filled with stained glass. The rear wall of the church is plain with no openings. The original main elevation behind the modern front features a parapet wall with a shallow central bell tower that also has a parapet and a round-arched belfry opening. Below the bell tower is a large arched reveal with three separate gothic arched openings filled with stained glass. Also decorating the original main elevation are shallow buttresses. A modern projecting one-story ell covers the original main entrance to the church. This ell is constructed of modern red brick and has details that mimic the original main elevation with a parapet roof and a shallow projecting parapeted gabled entrance with a large round-arched opening. It is flanked by two round-arched openings covering other entrances to the church building. The interior of the church has been remodeled. The sanctuary is carpeted, there are plain plaster walls, and wood trim is plain or painted. The altar is a simple, small, wooden structure with a wooden back screen. Side altars feature plain statuary and simple shelves. There is no communion railing. The basement has a large open “hall” space that is carpeted and has an acoustical tile ceiling. There is a large kitchen with modern cabinets, counters, and fixtures. The Monfort area had a large community of Czech Catholic residents in the early 20th century, but no local Catholic church. Finally, in 1925, after convincing the diocese hierarchy to form another church and raising enough money, St. Thomas Church opened. The church was built using labor from the congregation and was designed by Ferdinand L. Kronenberg, a prolific late nineteenth and early twentieth century architect from Madison. The rectory was built in 1933 and the school was built in 1964. The church is still an active Catholic congregation.

Not Listed