This architectural treasure was founded in 1857 by Alonzo Potter, Bishop of Pennsylvania and member of Penn’s Board of Trustees from 1845 to 1865, to educate Episcopalian priests
This building wasthe winner of the design competition was the firm of Zantzinger, Borie and Medary. Clarence Zantzinger and Charles Borie were both Penn alumni, earning their architecture degrees in 1895 and 1897, respectively.[1]
This building is considered one of Pennsylvania’s finest examples of Neo-Gothic Architecture. Completed in 1924, the grandeur of the Chapel reflected the booming economy of the Roaring Twenties.
From the 1924 to 1974, this church was the centerpiece of the now-closed Philadelphia Episcopal Seminary.[2]
Currently, the
site is home to the Parent Infant Center; the Philadelphia Writing Project, a
non-profit network of teachers that serves West Philadelphia, and the Sadie
Tanner Mossell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School.
[1] https://almanac.upenn.edu/archive/volumes/v56/n27/divinity.html
[2] https://www.phillyhistory.org/blog/index.php/2018/11/the-mystery-church-st-andrews-chapel-of-spruce-hill/
