Mosque Foundation

The Mosque Foundation of Chicago was established on Chicago's South Side in 1954 by a group of Palestinian immigrants. In the early years Chicago Muslims rented various properties to hold prayers and events, and in 1963 the Foundation purchased a former church on Steward Avenue to serve as the organization's first mosque. Several years later that building was sold to purchase a storefront property at 79th and Clyde Avenue, which was itself sold shortly after, with the proceeds going towards purchasing land in Bridgeview, where the mosque currently stands.Designs for the current mosque were presented in 1977, construction began in November 1978, and in 1981 the Mosque Foundation was officially opened. As the mosque community grew, expansions to the mosque were completed in 1998 and 2008. Community functions such as a school (from 1986-1996), food pantry, and youth center, subsequently expanded into a community center, were added. In the neighborhood around the mosque, a Muslim residential community has developed, including homes, schools, businesses, and restaurants. Now one of nearly 70 mosques in the Chicago metropolitan area, the Mosque Foundation of Chicago is one of the largest and most popular.The mosque is a white brick building, with a large copper dome over the original section of the mosque. The expansion has a small copper dome over a square tower at three of its four corners, as well as a minaret.Source:Mosque Foundation of Chicago. "History and Timeline." Accessed January 8, 2015, http://www.mosquefoundation.org/about-us/history-timeline.