West Side Institutional Synagogue

 temple, Romanesque (architecture), interesting place, 1890_construction

2-story (with 4-story tower) Romanesque-revival synagogue completed in 1890 as the St. Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church. Designed by Cady, Berg, & See, it is clad in rough-faced, rusticated limestone. The West Side Institutional Synagogue was founded in 1917, and moved here in 1937. The building was renovated following a fire in 1965. An annex was added to the west end in 1958, housing both a preschool and a senior center (see separate entry).

There is a tower at the east end of the synagogue, directly next to the annex. There is a set of steps at the base, with a pale-yellow set of metal service doors. Above them is the first of three small sets of paired windows, one at each floor, with the windows divided by a stone column with a stylized capital. The top floor has two slightly-larger round-arched windows, and is set off by a double band of dentils. The edges of the tower are framed by projecting columns of rusticated limestone.

The main worship area extends to the west, rising about the equivalent of three stories. The main entrance is directly to the right of the tower, with a wider set of steps leading up to two sets of green metal double-doors below a short canopy. Topping the entrance is a grand arch encompassing two round windows and a pointed-oval foil window. A very prominent column of stone frames the west end of this section above the entrance, extending up above the roof line, crowned by a turret. Above the grand arch is an arcade of five smaller round-arched windows, and the roof line marked by a double row of dentils above short brackets. Farther to the west the 2nd floor has a large tripartite window configuration of stained glass; each window is round-arched, and there are no openings at the ground floor. The roof line is continued across to the west, where there is another large turreted column extending all the way to the ground and above the roof line, setting off the far west end of the facade. The west end bay has a secondary entrance with a round-arched white metal door atop a set of steps. The 2nd floor has a very narrow round-arched window, and the far west edge of the facade is framed by a smaller, narrower column with a smaller turret on top.