215 North Ave Grotto
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Oakland Regional Historic Sites - Property # 1111254001A http://oaklandregionalhistoricsites.org/property/1111254001A Property #: 1111254001A Historic Site Credit: Mount Clemens Public Library Website Administrator: Rochester-Avon Historical Society Address Street: 215 North Avenue City: Mount Clemens County: Macomb ZIP: 48043 Latitude: 42.606632 Longitude: -82.880862 Current Name: Historic Name: St. Joseph Sanitarium Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto Evaluations [lightbox ] Contributes to: NR Eligible: Contributing: SHPO Evaluation: Resources on Property Status Photo Historic Use: Religion: Ceremonial site Filename: grotto.JPG Current Use: Landscape: Garden Roll: Frame: Owner Type: Private View: Credit: Mount Clemens Public Library Caption: Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto at St. Joseph Sanitarium, ca. 1940 Main Building Foundation: Roof: Period of Significance: 1. 1. 2. 2. Area of Significance: 3. 3. 1. Landscape architecture 2. Religion Wall: Other: 3. Health/medicine 1. STONE 1. STONE: Marble Arch/Builder: Joseph Gallagher - supervising 2. 2. engineer 3. 3. Date Built: 1940 Architectural Classification: Material Notes: Description: Other Buildings/Features: Significant Persons: Statement of Significance: References: 1. "Sanitarium erects replica of grotto," The Daily Leader, July 11, 1940, p.1. 2. "Many expected at grotto dedication," The Daily Leader, July 16, 1940, p.1. Surveyor's Comments: History: In 1940, a replica of the Grotto of Miracles in Lourdes, France was built in the garden at St. Joseph Sanitarium [later St. Joseph Mercy Hospital]. On July 11, 1940, the Daily Leader announced the new shrine as follows: [begin quote] 1 of 2 12/21/2017, 10:29 AM Oakland Regional Historic Sites - Property # 1111254001A http://oaklandregionalhistoricsites.org/property/1111254001A A replica of the Grotto of Miracles, Lourdes, France, has been erected in the gardens of St. Joseph Sanitarium, Mount Clemens, and will be dedicated in an impressive ceremony at three o'clock Tuesday afternoon, with Monsignor J. J. Hunt, of Detroit, delivering the address, and the Rev. Fr. James Leukert, chaplain of St. Joseph Hospital, unveiling the statues and blessing the shrine. The public is invited to the ceremony. The shrine, where it is hoped miracles similar to those performed at Lourdes may be repeated, was made possible by voluntary contributions of guests in the sanitarium, the fund having started last January. Twenty tons of tufa rock from Castalia, Ohio, were used in the erection of the grotto, under direction of Joseph Gallagher, and statues of Bernadette and the Blessed Virgin Mary, carved of carrara marble were imported from Italy, arriving in New York four days before war was declared. [end quote] On July 16, 1940, the Daily Leader announced the dedication plans for the grotto and included the following additional details about its construction: [begin quote] The shrine, a replica of the Grotto of Miracles, Lourdes, France, was built under the direction of Joseph Gallagher, architectural engineer,, of 282 North avenue. Twenty tons of tufa rock from Castalia, Ohio were used in the shrine's erection. Gallagher, who served 22 months in the World War, 18 of those months in France, said he made several trips from Paris to Lourdes and had always dreamed of building a shrine similar to the one there. After the war, he built a small one in Philadelphia. The new Mount Clemens shrine, while not nearly as large as that at Lourdes, is much bigger than Gallagher's first artistry of that kind in Philadelphia. There are Lourdes shrines in St. Ann De Beaupre, Canada; St. Joseph, Ohio; Aberdeen, S. D., and Birmingham, Mich., and the one being dedicated here today is believed to be one of the most beautiful of them all. [end quote] 2 of 2 12/21/2017, 10:29 AM.