"The Art of Historic Preservation"

9th Annual Preservation Week 2007 Photo-Essay Competition

Third Place: Alysa Wilfong, 8th Grade, Newport Middle School

Title:  Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi was built in 1901 on Isabella Street in Newport, Kentucky.  It was built using the Spanish Mission and Italianate style. It has arched stained glass windows showing religious stories on the side of the building.  The windows in front of the  of building uses the three sequence with connected three windows on each level.  On the top of Corpus Christi are crosses resembling the Spanish Mission.

When Corpus Christi was built it was a Catholic Church.  Many memories were made there with weddings, baptisms, and funerals.  Most recently it was used for recreation.  Banquets were held there and it was a place for kids to go skating on Sunday afternoons.  It is now a retirement home and homes where people can go if their home got tore down in the projects.  In the future it needs to be a place where tourists can go and see the city’s diverse history.

Newport Kentucky is a very diverse community.  Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics, and many others call it home.  The beautiful building makes Isabella Street a remembering one.  This building would be a great tourist attraction.  A building with this much beauty and history changes the outlook of what history means to a city.  When I drive by a building that catches my eye, I want to seek more in search of more buildings like the one I saw.  That is the type of building Corpus Christi is.  It is still an eye opener on an ugly, rainy day and could make an average picture great.

This essay and photograph(s) are the property of Preservation Kentucky, Inc. and Kentucky Heritage Council and that any use of the photo or essay must be approved by PK and KHC.