Sacred Heart Church, USA

The Sacred Heart Church was built in 1971, in Vernon Connecticut. The church was erected amid mid controversy and concerns about its futuristic design. This towering seven-story structure was essentially a huge concrete pyramid, and was certainly a distinctive landmark despite divided opinion as to the aesthetics. The church was also nicknamed “Cement Tent” and “St. Cement”.

Inside the walls are bare concrete, with prominent ridges which stretch up and lead the eyes towards the angel-shaped skylight. Sun pours in through this skylight, filling the room and its every corner. As the warm afternoon sun filters through, the ridged concrete walls give the impression of sunrays radiating out from the illuminating angel motif above.

By 1980 concrete began crumbling from the walls and rained down upon the congregation 85ft below, damaging pews. It seems those originally airing safety concerns were indeed justified, predicting this “spalling” (concrete detaching from the supporting steel frame due to environmental effects). Attempts were made to repair the weak points, and services continued to be held here for another 17 years.

The structure was condemned in 1997, officials declaring the church unsafe and the congregation was forced to move services to the adjacent parish hall. Engineers and architects said there is no economical way to repair and strengthen the church, so it lay empty for over two decades. The church was for sale, with a market price of $900,000.

The church was demolished on 15th March 2019, a sad loss of a truly unique and quirky church.

Comic strip controversy

The church also featured in comic strip Zippy the Pinhead, illustrated by Bill Griffith and nationally-circulated. The author often uses unusual and strange roadside buildings as settings in his comics, and unsurprisingly the Sacred Heart took his eye while he had lunch at a nearby deli. The parishioners sent barrages of angry emails, highlighting that a cartoon clown mocking their place of worship was disrespectful.

The offending comic strip can be viewed here, prints are also available to purchase from the authors website.

Sacred Heart Church featured in Pinhead Comic by Bill Griffiths (https://zippythepinhead.com/)