Built in 1927, it was a very ornate final resting place for many of the Columbus' wealthy. Notables here include former city leaders, the brother of J.C. Penney, members of the Swisher Cigar Company and Thurston the Great. Unfortunately, it was neglected for decades as structural damage, a lack of security, funds and revolting vandalism left the building in a state of disrepair.
If you do a search on Greenlawn Abbey, you will see many photographs taken by 'urban explorers' on illicit missions. They did damage to the site also, as did homeless people and crackheads who stole some of the bronze gates for scrap. It is vile, what people did to this building.
It's a miracle that this statue has remained intact. It's inside the Sells Family crypt. Notice the bricked in window that once held a beautiful stained glass window.
The Green Lawn Abbey Preservation Association has been doing a heroic effort in simply trying to keep the building intact. Just fixing the roof has been a costly enterprise. Today was their open house and fundraiser.
I had no idea the only way to the second floor of the building was through the outisde staircase. There is no access inside from the first to the second floor. Was this to keep the wealthier classes, who took up most of the second floor crypts, apart from the commoners on the first floor? Other things I did not know was that most of the 600 crypts in the mausoleum are used, and the last interment was in the year 2000. Finally seeing the inside of Greenlawn Abbey was a thrill, and it was a pleasure to get a guided tour by one of the many dedicated volunteers who are trying to preserve and maintain this sacred, but little known, landmark.
2 comments:
Nice post, and nice pics. I love this place and which I had the time/money/health to attend more of the fundraisers. I had hoped and planned to attend some of them this year, but was not able, mostly due to health. Were I rich, had I millions of dollars or were I to win the lottery, this place would be top of the list for donations. And for the record, were I to do grad school all over again, I would find a way to specialize in the art and history of stained glass, particularly art deco period as I suspect these relate to, and I would write the full history and field guide to these windows. LOVE IT. And, yes, all of the vandalism is a real tragedy.
Thought I had a Facebook album of that visit. Must be somewhere in the 2010 pictures. After seeing that place vacant for years, it good to see people finally doing something to preserve it.
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