CITY HALL — Stone Temple Missionary Baptist Church, a former synagogue made famous during the civil-rights era by the Rev. Martin Luther King, was granted landmark status Thursday by a city preservation panel.
The Commission on Chicago Landmarks moved unanimously to protect the church, at 3620 W. Douglas Blvd., in North Lawndale.
Built in 1926 for a congregation of Romanian Jews, it was sold in 1954 to Stone Temple Missionary Baptist Church, founded by the Rev. James Marcellus Stone.
Stone was a colleague of King's and first brought him to the church to preach in 1959. In the mid-'60s, when King briefly moved to Chicago to lead the Chicago Freedom Movement against housing discrimination, Stone Temple Baptist became a focal point of the movement and served as its West Side Action Center, according to the testimony of Matt Crawford of the Department of Planning and Development.
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Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago, endorsed landmark status for the building, speaking on behalf of the church's Bishop Derrick Fitzpatrick, who was not able to attend Thursday's hearing. Ald. Michael Scott (24th) likewise endorsed preservation.
The measure now advances to the City Council for final approval.
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