Update: I revisited the church in August of 2023. The building has continued to suffer severe deterioration and much of the nave’s roof have collapsed.
City Methodist Church in downtown Gary is perhaps one of the more famous abandoned buildings in the United States. The congregation also had a sadly short run, founded in 1925, it closed due to lack of members in 1975.
Designed by Lows & Bollenbacher, I was told by someone that Elbert Gary himself donated steel for the structural framework of the church.
The roof over the nave has now largely collapsed, looking at more recent photographs since these that I took in 2009.
The expenses of taking care of such a huge masonry structure did not make it appealing for purchase by another congregation after the original one folded.
It’s still a beautiful example of the English Gothic Revival.
