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A tunnel exists beneath the flooring and runs from
the sacristy basement, along both sides, finally
meeting underneath the two front doors. While the prime
entry point is from the sacristy basement, additional
access points exist under the bell tower access shaft
and under one of the priests confessionals. While this
tunnel may sound like a medieval escape route, its sole
function is to channel heating pipes to each of the
inset radiators along both sides of the church.
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The rear central pillar (behind the altar) has two
functions; it doubles as a chimney for the churches
heating system and a supply shaft for the wiring that
powers the ceiling and surrounding rim lighting.
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The church has no foundation stone. The controversy
that surrounded the selection of a foreign architect
and the use of concrete as a base material, appalled
the Society of Stone cutters and Marble Masons. They
instructed that the foundation stone "..shall not be
worked, as the building of the said Church is
detrimental to our trade"
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The original sanctuary light was shaped similar to
the sculpture of Christ, a T-shaped design, with the
arms, angled upward. It was originally suspended from
the ceiling and lowered as required by a series of
pulleys. The Vatican II council relaxed many of the
traditional liturgical rules and it was likely that the
priests felt it inappropriate to maintain such a large
and central sanctuary light. There is also anecdotal
evidence that the lamp swayed quite considerably when
disturbed with the strong air flow from front to side
doors and many were terrified of it falling on them.
Today, this light is gone and nowhere to be found, but
the original support frame is still visible in one of
the apex slots. The original drawing for the light
remains in the archives at the Chicago Historical
Society.
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The current seating arrangement has the far left and
right front series of pews angled toward the sanctuary.
Barry Byrne, in a letter to Bishop Coholan, suggested
an alternative seating arrangement that incorporated
this very idea. However the suggestion was rejected at
the time.
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The side confessional interiors have the same black
terazzo and beige dado rail. The reasoning behind this
was to allow for use as additional shrines if
required.
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Turners Cross was plagued by its concrete structure.
Over the years, many tried to tackle the reverb-riddled
sound, with everything from suspended speakers to wall
mounted units. Recent renovation work included the
sound-proofing of parts of the ceiling and side walls
which has greatly reduced the reverb within the
sanctuary.