North Christian Church is seen in a photo from September 2022. The church’s new nonprofit owners were granted a tax exemption for architectural arts purposes last week.
Republic file photo
North Christian Church, an internationally recognized example of modernist architecture in a city brimming with them, appears to have a new mission as a shrine to Columbus’ architectural legacy.
The Bartholomew County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA) on Tuesday approved a new tax-exempt status for the former church, whose dwindling congregation recently transferred ownership of the historic landmark for further nonprofit uses.
The tax exemption application lists 850 Tipton LLC as owner. Bartholomew County Assessor Ginny Whipple told the PTABOA, “850 Tipton is an LLC owned by Columbus Capital Foundation, which is a foundation incorporated and owned by the Heritage Fund, and they are going to make this a museum for architectural edification in Columbus.”
Heritage Fund director Tracy Souza is listed as secretary of 850 Tipton LLC, which is named for the church’s address. Albert H. Shumaker of Columbus is listed as chairman of 850 Tipton LLC, according to the Certificate of Organization filed with the Indiana Secretary of State’s office last year.
Souza did not immediately reply to messages seeking comment about plans for North Christian. The church previously had a property tax exemption, as is customary for property used for religious purposes, so the exemption granted to 850 Tipton LLC for North’s future use will have no net impact on county taxpayers.
The property tax exemption was granted under Indiana law that provides exemptions for nonprofit entities that support the fine arts, including architecture.
In requesting the tax exemption, 850 Tipton described the exempt purpose as follows:
“The City of Columbus is a virtual ‘museum’ of modern architecture, including North Christian Church. The subject property is owned, occupied and predominantly used to further the charitable and educational purposes of protecting, preserving, encouraging, and promoting the City’s robust, rich, and internationally respected architectural heritage.
“… North Christian Church has been widely acclaimed as a significant work of ecclesiastical architecture. Several elements of the design were innovative in church design. For example, the sanctuary was placed in the middle of the building and elevated, symbolizing its importance as the center of the church. Seating was around a hexagonal plan.”
Designed and built by world-renowned Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, North Christian was completed in 1964, just a year before completion of perhaps his most famous landmark — the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. North Christian was designated a national historic landmark in 2000.
Saarinen also designed two other Columbus landmarks that Architectural Digest in 2016 included among 15 of his landmark buildings. The others include the Miller House and Garden (completed in 1957) and the Cummins Inc. Irwin Conference Center, formerly Irwin Union Bank and Trust (1954).
Among the architect’s other notable designs are those for the US Embassy in London (1960), Washington Dulles International Airport (1962), New York’s Lincoln Center (1965) and the CBS Center in New York (1965).
Eero Saarinen has another architectural connection to Columbus. His father, Eliel Saarinen, designed First Christian Church in Columbus, completed in 1942 and also designated a national historic landmark as one of the first houses of worship in the U.S. built in a contemporary style.
