6041 Ridge Road, at the northeast corner of the intersection of Ridge Road and Renwood Drive, in Parma, built in 1957. Neo-Romanesque.

Exterior: Bethany Lutheran is faced with a dolomitic limestone that is set as random coursed ashlar with split-faced finishes. Some blocks are cut and installed in the same orientation as in the quarry; others are set on edge. The contrasting orientations of the blocks add texture to the facade of the church, especially when seen in raking light. The blocks' color vary from very pale orange to light gray to pale yellowish brown.

Facing is a dolomitic limestone, probably Lannon stone, quarried in Wisconsin.

Remarks: The stone used for this church is a dense, dolomitic limestone. This stone is either Lannon stone or a stone very similar to Lannon stone, which is quarried in the Lannon area, Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Lannon stone was used for some of Chicago's classic churches (Lane, 1981, pp. 193, 200) and was often used for churches in the Midwest in the 1950s (Don Mikulic and Joanne Klussendorf, personal communication, 1998). Stylolites are prominent in many blocks. Those in blocks set in the orientation found in the quarry (or upside down) are seen in cross-section. Those in blocks set on edge are seen in top or bottom view, exposing a very irregular surface. Here and there are very stable blobs of pyrite, very dark in color. Only rarely are there any iron stains leaching from these blobs. There are occasional small, crystal-filled vugs in the stone ranging in size from a few millimeters to four centimeters. The stone has a very sugary texture) due to weathering. There is also a small amount of scaling in places. However, the stone is still in good shape. The adjacent school building utilizes similar stone; some blocks in the school structure have horizontal fossil trackways preserved in them.

Go to: next section / previous section /main index