62-acre former Roman Catholic convent and boarding school, known simply as Eden Hall.  This 157-year-old chapel that certainly qualifies as one
of the city’s most neglected historical landmarks.

English Ecclesiological revival architect Frank Wils designed the 35-foot by 45-foot chapel in Gothic style. But beyond the architectural value,
 the building and surrounding grounds are a monument of sorts to the founding and development of the city, Pennsylvania and the nation.
In 1998, a student in the master of science program at the University of Pennsylvania produced a 141-page thesis detailing the history of the site
from its occupation by Native American people, through 17th century European migration to the area, its development as a country estate and farm,
 its conversion into an elite boarding school for girls and, finally, its acquisition by the city for use as a public park.

The semi-cloistered Society of the Sacred Heart sisters occupied the site and ran the school from 1847 to 1969. The daughters of some of
 the nation’s wealthiest people attended the school. Later, the school opened its doors to local girls, too.  According to Maureen Fluehr,
two of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ aunts lived at Eden Hall as nuns. Also, the parents of St. Katharine Drexel were once entombed in a
crypt on the site before their bodies were reburied elsewhere. Francis Drexel was a major financier of the chapel.  The Drexels had a
country home on the present-day site of Frankford Hospital’s Torresdale Campus.

St. John Neumann, the 19th century bishop of Philadelphia who is generally credited with founding the city’s highly regarded Catholic school
system, used to visit Eden Hall and counsel the students.  "We played here, ice skated on the pond, attended barbecues and picnics here,"
said Wendell Young IV, a local labor leader and Joseph Fluehr’s oldest grandchild. "It shouldn’t fall into the hands of developers."
Some of the family members actually attended school on the property when St. Katherine of Siena parish had classes there.  Meanwhile, the
nuns were largely self-sufficient with a productive farm and livestock.  "They raised animals. They had pigs," Joseph Fluehr Jr. recalled. "We
would sneak out of school when they slaughtered the pigs to see how it was all done. I remember Big John was the plow horse."

The interior was stunning with priceless stained-glass windows (which have been preserved off site) and a high arching ceiling.  "It was very ornate,"
Vallorani said. "The altar was carved out of stone."  The chapel building comprised just a fraction of the entire Eden Hall compound at its peak.
 A large country home and barn were there when the nuns bought it. From the mid-1800s through the early 1900s, the sisters also built a library,
gymnasium, infirmary and passages to connect it all.

A major fire destroyed much of the complex in 1979.  According to Young, the idea to restore the chapel developed from a family gathering about
two years ago. Most of the family members still live within an hour’s drive of the site.
The Fluehrs contacted the Fairmount Park Commission, which owns the site, local elected officials and neighborhood civic groups, Maureen Fluehr said.
Generally, all were supportive of the effort under the condition that the chapel not be converted for use in an activity for which it was not built.
That is, neither the park commission, nor neighbors, would allow a commercial use, for example, for the building.  The Fluehrs agree, but the idea of
reusing the place even in its traditional activities as a house of worship or school seems well off into the distance.  "Stabilizing it is the first step, and we’re
just trying to secure it from vandals," said Vallorani, who recently installed fences around the chapel as an obstacle to trespassing youths.  "They break
 in and break things inside and destroy things," Vallorani said.  With the slate roof leaking and in danger of collapse, "time is of the essence," Maureen
Fluehr said.  If the roof goes, then the rest of the stone structure will soon follow. Lacking the money to restore the structure, the city would probably
just demolish it.  Joseph C. Fluehr Jr. believes that it’s important for potential contributors to realize that an organized effort has begun to carry out
the mission via a registered non-profit organization — Eden Hall Chapel at Fluehr Park Inc.


By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer
Chapel of love
For more information about preserving Eden Hall, write to Eden Hall Chapel at Fluehr Park, P.O. Box 16300, Philadelphia, PA 19114.
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com