Renovation Restores Genesis Chapel

Century-old chapel is final resting place of Mercy Hospital founder

DAVENPORT, IOWA - The suffering in Davenport in 1873 was intolerable. An empty warehouse was turned into a makeshift hospital with 250 beds. People violently ill and dying with cholera filled each bed.

Families would bring victims to the makeshift hospital and leave immediately. They didn’t dare stay long. Maybe they, too, would soon be back.

Into this horrifying chaos arrived Mother Mary Borromeo Johnson and two of the Sisters of Mercy. All had experienced the ravages of cholera while serving in Chicago. The death rate decreased under the care of the Sisters. Within four weeks, one of the worst health crises in the history of Davenport had subsided.

By 1873 when the cholera hit, Mother Mary Borromeo Johnson and the Sisters of Mercy were already well-established in the region. They had established a convent and school in DeWitt. In 1869, they created Mercy Hospital in Davenport, the third hospital west of the Mississippi River.

Only a year after the cholera outbreak, Mother Mary Borromeo Johnson died of cancer. She was only 42 and had spent only a short time in Davenport, but the results of her work remain today. “Though her life was short, her accomplishments as a foundress were phenomenal,’’ wrote Sister Mary Brigid Condon in her 1997 book, “From Simplicity to Elegance, The Story of Mercy Hospital, Davenport.”

The Davenport hospital that the Irish-born Borromeo founded remained as Mercy Hospital until 1993, when Mercy and St. Luke’s hospitals consolidated into Genesis Health System.

Chapel Is Final Resting Place

Mother Mary Borromeo’s final resting place was appropriate considering her important role in establishing Mercy Hospital. On what is now the Genesis, West Central Park campus, Mother Borromeo’s grave is under the tiny chapel built in her honor in Sacred Heart Cemetery.

The cemetery was new when Mother Mary Borromeo died in 1874. The actual date of the construction of the chapel is unknown. Based on the workmanship of the chapel, it is believed to be approximately 100 years old.

Genesis has renovated the chapel to assure that Mother Mary Borromeo and the Sisters of Mercy will remain as a visible chapter of the history of Davenport and of Genesis Health System.

“Almost 140 years ago the Sisters of Mercy of Chicago established a mission of caring for the sick and the relief of suffering with the founding of Mercy Hospital in Davenport,’’ said Leo Bressanelli, President and CEO, Genesis Health System. “The legacy of caring has been carried forth from generation to generation and continues to be expressed to this day in the mission of Genesis Health System to provide compassionate, quality health services to all those in need.

“The Sacred Heart Cemetery and the chapel remain today as a constant reminder of the sacrifice, dedication, and compassion of the Sisters of Mercy in serving the mission of caring. The cemetery and chapel are a part of the history of Genesis and it is important to honor our history and those who came before us.”

Because the foundation of the chapel serves as the final resting place of Mother Mary Borromeo, there were concerns about how the foundation could be refurbished without disturbing the gravesite. Workers were able to renovate and stabilize the limestone foundation by working only on the perimeter. The interior of the foundation was left undisturbed.

“One of the ways we could get an idea of how old the chapel is was by totally exposing the foundation,’’ explained Bill Myers, project management specialist in the planning and construction department at Genesis. “If you see the very bottom of the foundation, it is basically stones placed randomly filled in with mortar. The look is rough. The higher you go up on the foundation, you can see that it becomes much more formal and smooth where the foundation was exposed.

“It was the craftsmanship throughout the chapel that told us we were working with a turn-of-the-century building. It is the type of construction you would have seen in that era. This is a small church that was built to last.’’

The exterior is brick that was in need of tuck-pointing and paint. A new, slate-tiled roof has been added.

Features on the inside of the chapel include a marble plaque on the wall memorializing Mother Borromeo. There is an ornate wooden altar that was renovated. There are also unique features in the ceiling that Myers calls “amazing.’’

The windows are not stained glass, but have intricate, etched designs. “Some of what we found didn’t require that much work. Again, that was because of how well the chapel was built originally,’’ Myers said. “It was a very different project than what we’re used to in health care.

“It was challenging to be part of something so different but it has also been fun because it was restoration instead of new construction or expansion. And it has become a very important project for us because of its historical significance.’’

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