The Project glumly returns to South Philly. Glumly? Yes. Like it or not, South Philly is a chore to get to, and their churches are usually subpar. You may ask, then, why I keep going there. I ask myself that one a lot, too. I guess at heart I’m a professional, and I’m going to cover South Philadelphia even if it kills me. Which, I think, it probably will.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel does nothing to improve my opinion of South Philly parishes; in fact, I think it lowers it just a bit. OLMC is neither particularly grandiose nor particularly ornate. The Project has often overlooked a lack of size, but it’s impossible to overlook a lack of ornamentation. And that’s really the problem here. The plaster is mostly a tan color, with red and gold outlines. That sounds nifty in theory, but here it comes off looking pretty plain.
The effect is made even worse by sloppy workmanship. The quality of the painting is atrocious. It looks like they had it touched up by someone who had never held a paintbrush, as the lines are uneven and splotchy. Even the open tan sections aren’t particularly crisp or well-covered. Just for the sake of comparison, take a look at the immaculate paint job we witnessed last week, and then look at this again. It’s as if they hired those half-assed College Painters to do the job. Overall, it just makes the church look at best gaudy, and at worst, dumpy.
It’s a shame, too, because there’s some worthwhile stuff here. OLMC is constructed decently, cruciform-shape, with some Gothic-style arches on the windows and the ceiling. Indeed, the design is strikingly similar to St. Bridget, right down to the size and style of the stained glass windows. OLMC even earns some points for having a stained glass window as the altar backdrop, which is something we haven’t seen before.
Alas, it's all for naught. Sorry, South Philly.
Size Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Ornamentation Rating: 7 out of 10
Overall Design Rating: 7 out of 10 crosses
