Fortune Restoration’s Church interior painting and Church exterior painting projects at St. Peter Catholic Church have given this 120 year old church a refreshing coat of paint. Fortune Restoration’s interior painting services worked throughout the interior spaces of St. Peter’s school. As the exterior paint contractor for this Skokie based Catholic Church, Fortune Restoration completed an extensive restoration project to the Churches exterior windows and trim. Carefully replacing any broken or damaged glass panes, Fortune Restoration refinished all the surrounding encasements and installed new panes of glass to protect the brilliant stained glass windows around the entire exterior of the Church.
St. Peter Catholic Parish was established in 1868. The first church for the parish was a frame structure built in 1869 by Reverend Joseph Beinke and 65 families from the Niles Centre area. Building was lead by parishioner, P. Kirscht, and the total building cost was $3,536. The land for the church was donated by Peter and Magdalena (Heinz) Blameuser. In recognition of this gift, the church was named after St. Peter. It was located just north of the church’s present location, and faced Lincoln Ave. A wood frame school was built in 1873 at the fork of Lincoln Ave. and Niles Center Rd.
When the present church was built, the school was rebuilt further north. The Chicago Architect Henry Schlacks built the present church, which stands at the apex of the angle formed by Lincoln Ave. and Niles Center Rd., in 1894 at a cost of $33,000. The church built in Gothic Revival Style incorporates pointed arches and tall columns in both its interior and exterior. Eight gigantic trees serve as supports for the high vaulted roof, however from the inside they appear as pillars on each side of the church. Brick from Milwaukee was used to build the structure. Looking inside the church, past the nave, one will find the sanctuary where the main altar is located. The altar and background shrines are made of butternut wood, while the statutes are made of pearwood. Stained glass windows, made in Germany, portray Peter receiving the Keys to the Kingdom and the Four Evangelists. Early parishioners donated the windows on each side of the nave. The church bell tower contains three bronze bells. Two of which were purchased by Reverend Arthur Sauer, during whose long tenure the original Gothic style of the church was renovated and restored. Looking outside, one can also see the cornerstone commemorating the church’s St. Peter Catholic Church, late 1890s original completion— A.D. May 20, 1894.
