Pope Leo’s Gym: St. Mary of the Assumption School, Chicago, Illinois - Illustrious: The Best High School Gyms in Illinois

*Drapes hang on the stage as a backdrop for the backboard in the gym of the closed St. Mary of the Assumption grade school in Chicago, on Friday May 9, 2025. (Photo by Vincent D. Johnson)*

As shocking as it is that the newest Pope is American born and raised, it’s was even more surprising that he was from Illinois and grew up on the far-South Side of Chicago.

Robert Prevost, now to forever know as Pope Leo XIV, was elected May 8th, 2025 as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church. To have an American as Pope is one thing, but having someone who grew up in the Midwest from humble beginnings makes him related in a way for many Americans, not just Catholics.

Nothing may be more relatable than the fact that the Pope was once a kid who played sports and was still a such a fan he made it to the World Series in 2005 to watch his team the Chicago White Sox. Prevost, who grew up in Dolton, just blocks from the city’s southern border, attended school and mass at St. Mary of the Assumption in the Riverdale neighborhood of Chicago. Not to be confused with the town of Riverdale, which is directly next to the neighborhood.

A robin, sits in a nest on the rim of the basketball backboard in the gym of the former St. Mary of the Assumption grade school, in Chicago, on Friday May 9, 2025. (Photo by Vincent D. Johnson)

The History of St. Mary of the Assumption church and school buildings

The parish started in 1886 and the school was built around 1917. The building used a common design at the time of housing the church in the center of the school. Hallways around the church would also have classrooms on the exterior parts of the building. As the parish grew a stand along church was built on the site in 1957 and the original church was converted to the gym and theater for the school.

Growing up in Catholic in Joliet I saw this in at least two churches in town. St. Raymond and St. Patrick both followed this design. St. Raymond became the seat of the Joliet Diocese and a cathedral was built. The old church became the gym until the 1980s, when a new gym was built and the original church was converted into a learning center and library for the school. St. Patrick still has mass in its original church and classrooms line the halls outside the church.

To the left are doors to the gym/former church of St. Mary of the Assumption, to the right are doors leading to classrooms for the school, in Chicago, on Friday May 9, 2025. (Photo by Vincent D. Johnson)

*Bleacher most likely original to the 1950s in the gym of the former St. Mary of the Assumption grade school in Chicago, on Friday May 9, 2025. (Photo by Vincent D. Johnson)*

*The scoreboard, bench, and stage entrance in the gym of the former St. Mary of the Assumption grade school in Chicago, on Friday May 9, 2025. (Photo by Vincent D. Johnson)*

The gym at St. Mary of the Assumption school in the Riverdale neighborhood, was once the parish’s church before the new church was built in 1957, in Chicago, on Friday May 9, 2025. Pope Leo XIV attended school and mass in the building. (Photo by Vincent D. Johnson)

*I had to clean off the dust on jump circle at center court in the gym at the former St. Mary of the Assumption grade school in Chicago, on Friday May 9, 2025. (Photo by Vincent D. Johnson)*

Structural Glued Laminated Timber Roof

The church that Pope Leo XIV knew for most of his childhood had its roof built using a process called structural glued laminated timber. If this place looks familiar, it’s because a few high school gyms in the state were built with similar materials. St. Joseph in Westchester, Tinley Park High, Bremen High, and several other gyms, churches, and park facilities too.