The lovely twin spires are visible from many vantage points in central San Francisco on Fulton by USF
By Sam Whiting, Reporter Updated June 16, 2024 9:32 p.m. - San Francisco Chronicle
At Sunday Mass on the Hilltop, the morning sunlight streaming through the stained glass at St. Ignatius Church was so bright that they did not need to turn the lights on. That stained glass, 13,000 individual panes in the clerestory windows facing east, was just back from being cleaned and re-leaded for the first time, in Chicago, and the parishioners took the rare fogless San Francisco morning as a sign from above.
“It’s a Father’s Day gift and a gift for our city,” said Mark Fighera, standing outside with his son, Dominik, 17, and wife, Elizabeth, who chimed in that “it’s a gift that keeps on giving.”
That’s been true since the church was built by the Jesuits at the highest point on Fulton Street in 1914 to serve as a beacon, 210 feet above sea level, with its twin spires rising an additional 185 feet into the sky and visible from across town. But an atmospheric river in October 2021 delivered heavy rains, both outside and inside the church, and 14 months ago, scaffolding went up all the way around, putting the parish in the dark.
It needed a new roof and exterior cladding, and the 43 stained glass windows, some so brittle they were barely hanging on, were removed and the openings temporarily covered in Plexiglass.
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