The Catholic doctrine of the Assumption of Mary holds that at the end of her life, Jesus’ mother was taken into heaven, both body and soul, sparing her the earthly indignity of interment and decay. Will the historic Philadelphia church christened in her honor also be saved from physical demise? An answer may soon be forthcoming.

The striking church at 1133 Spring Garden Street, constructed in 1849, will go up for sale by the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office on April 4, according to notices posted earlier this month. The impending sale could mark major movement for the property following more than a decade of limbo after neighbors and preservationists rescued the church from demolition at the 11th hour in 2013, only to watch time slowly chip away at its Gothic-Revival facade and forlorn interior.

The genesis of the sale is a matter of some mystery. The building appears to still be owned by John Wei, a Chinatown-based developer who purchased it for $1.2 million in 2012 and swiftly attempted to make good on a demolition permit obtained by the prior owner. However, a court threw out the old permit, and Wei never applied for a new one. Since then, the church has sat vacant, unused, and abandoned, save for a brief flirtation by Wei of turning the property into a 45-room hotel.

The sheriff’s notice suggests Wei owes a creditor $3.9 million in unpaid debt, precipitating the sale. Additional public records indicate a time of financial hardship for Wei, including a filing of bankruptcy in 2023 and penalties of more than $5 million in a civil suit that asserted Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) violations against Wei and associates. Also in 2023, Wei divested from the nearby Willow Street Steam Generation Plant, another notable neighborhood behemoth he had eyed for redevelopment. Wei and associated representatives could not be reached for this story.

The Church of the Assumption was added to the local register for legal protections in 2009. While the sale of any property listed on Philadelphia Register of Historic Places could signal danger, Paul Steinke, executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, said this one also presents opportunity. “I kind of take the sheriff’s sale notice as potentially a good sign, in that maybe it means a different developer will pick it up and convert it to another use,” he said. 

The Ascension of Assumption

Just five years before the Church of the Assumption opened its doors, Philadelphia was shaken by a number of violent Nativist riots in 1844, an explosive outgrowth of anti-immigrant sentiment among the city’s Protestant citizens toward newly arriving Italian and Irish Catholic populations.

The latter were apparently undeterred. Construction of the church was completed 1849. The architect, Patrick Charles Keely, was a prolific designer of churches who drew up plans for more than 600 over the course of his career. The Church of the Assumption stands as the earliest surviving of all his works. According to the building’s historic nomination, prepared and submitted by Andrew Palewski, “The Church of the Assumption is a surprisingly intact and unaltered example of Keely’s antebellum churches… virtually indistinguishable in appearance from its 19th century visual records.”

Designed in the Gothic Revival style, the nomination makes note of its dramatic brownstone facade, crowned by a pair of square towers and slender spires that provide a visual landmark to those traveling down Spring Garden Street. “Numerous Gothic-inspired forms and details characterize the facade, including buttresses, the prevalent use of the pointed lancet arch, windows with elaborate tracery, and the overall verticality of the design,” the nomination states. “The two octagonal engaged columns dividing the central block of the facade and the steeply pitched gable roof of the building, currently covered by slate, are other hallmarks of the Gothic Revival style.”

Three carved wooden doors adorning the facade mark the only entrances into the church. In total, the Church of the Assumption originally contained 42 works of stained glass. As of 2009, some were broken or removed, including a pair that is now on display in the stained glass collection of the Frances M. Maguire Art Museum at Saint Joseph’s University.

An August 1849 notice in the Public Ledger makes note of the church’s “magnificence,” listing Hugh & Stewart as stone-cutters, John Keenan as carpenter, and J.T. Allen as plasterer. “This church, when completely finished, will add another to our many specimens of architectural and mechanical skill and superiority, and reflects great credit among all concerned,” the notice reads.

The church is said to sit at the precise location where Benjamin Franklin conducted his infamous kite-and-key experiment in 1752, and its twin spires may even be in dedication to the event, according to historical records reviewed by Hidden City contributor Harry Kyriakodis. Also documented is the church’s connection to two Catholic saints: Bishop John Neumann, who helped consecrate the church, and Saint Katharine Drexel, who was baptized there 1858.

Seeking Salvation on Spring Garden

In 1899, the Church of the Assumption received a major renovation. A century later it was in a state of decline. In 1995, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia closed the church. In 2006, it sold the property to Siloam Wellness Center, a HIV/AIDS nonprofit. Just three years later, neighbors and preservationists moved to successfully add the church to the City’s historic register as a proactive measure against Siloam’s efforts to demolish it.

A back-and-forth legal battle ensued. In 2010, the Philadelphia Historical Commission approved a demolition application from Siloam on the basis of financial hardship by a 5-5 vote, the tie broken by a subsequent vote by then Historical Commission chair Sam Sherman. In 2011, the Callowhill Neighborhood Association appealed and won a reversal from the Philadelphia Board of Licenses and Inspections Review.

Siloam in turn successfully appealed to the Court of Common Pleas, whose 2012 decision left the Church of the Assumption on the very precipice of demolition. Ultimately, the nonprofit’s sale of the building the same year to Wei was enough for a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania judge to again reverse course, ruling in November 2013 that the original demolition permit was now moot. Wei never filed for a new one, which would have required him to make a fresh case for financial hardship in order to pursue demolition.

Since then, news about the church’s fate has become scant. Steinke said Wei invited him to his offices several years ago to reveal plans to turn the church into a hotel, requiring modest alterations to the rear of the building in order to create space for vehicles to pick up and drop off guests. “I said, ‘If brought to the Historical Commission, I think we could support you on that in exchange for getting the building restored on the outside and reactivated,’” Steinke explained.

Indeed, City records show Wei received a permit to convert the church into a 45-room hotel in 2018, pending additional approvals from the Historic Commission and other entities. Yet, there are no signs Wei further pursued such a development, as both Steinke and members of the Callowhill Neighborhood Association said they have seen no activity at the building in recent years.

Business entities and law firms associated with Wei either did respond to requests for comment on the Church of the Assumption’s pending sheriff’s sale or denied involvement. Steinke, however, remains hopeful that something good may come to pass. “Structurally, [the church] is still sound. It doesn’t look great, but I think it is a building that still could be rehabilitated,” he said. “There are a lot of churches around town that have been turned into apartments. No reason to believe this one couldn’t be as well.”

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