Brady Memorial Chapel
Pocatello, Bannock County
- Grants: 1992, 2000, 2019, 2021 – repoint, repair and seal exterior masonry
Location: Mountain View Cemetery, 1520 South Fifth Avenue, Pocatello, Idaho 83201
The Brady Memorial Chapel is a meditation chapel and memorial to late US Senator, Idaho State Governor, and prominent businessman James H. Brady. Brady played a leading role in the development of several irrigation systems instrumental in distributing electricity throughout Southeastern Idaho as the principal owner of the Idaho Consolidated Power Company. Brady also served as Idaho State Governor from 1908-1911. In 1913, Brady was elected to serve as a United States Senator until his death on January 13, 1918.
Commissioned by his widow Irene M. Brady following his death, this stately Gothic Revival chapel is situated in a picturesque part of Mountain View Cemetery and was dedicated on Memorial Day in 1922, which happens to be the same day as the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. The building was designed by renowned architect Frank Paradice, Jr., the most prominent architect in the Pocatello area at the time and designer of many of the more impressive public buildings of the era. This site is distinguished from the rest of Paradice’s extensive portfolio, however, as the only known example of his work in the Gothic Revival style. The exterior of the chapel Is constructed from hand-carved Indiana limestone and features turned pinnacles, heavy arches, and stained-glass windows. The interior is equally intricate, with twenty gothic style pews, oak woodwork, and bronze trim.
Following the death of Mrs. Brady in 1959, the City of Pocatello reached an agreement with the Brady family to have the ashes of the Bradys removed and buried behind the chapel. The building remained open to the public until 1961, when it was shuttered and used for storage. As a result, it fell into serious disrepair, sustaining damage to the windows and doors from vandals, contamination from stored chemicals, severe weathering of the exterior, and extensive water damage throughout the building due to the deteriorating roof. To add insult to injury, most of the original pews were auctioned off or destroyed. Despite the condition, Brady Memorial Chapel was listed in The National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Remediation and restoration efforts began in 1988, beginning with restoring the stained glass windows, adding granite benches and an informational plaque at the entrance, and installing a lighting system, including a 1920’s style chandelier in memory of Twyla Thomas, a staunch and vocal advocate for restoring the chapel. Until 2015, the Cemetery Committee and Pocatello Historic Preservation Commission did what they could to make incremental, systematic improvements to the chapel, but funds remained too limited to properly restore the building given its current state. In 2016, fundraising efforts began in earnest, and a capital campaign to raise the $250,000 needed to properly restore the chapel began in 2020. By 2025, several major projects in this multi-faceted, multi-phased plan have been undertaken and completed by the City of Pocatello Preservation Commission. Most recently, aspects of the exterior masonry, including the delicate finials atop the exterior columns, have been repointed, repaired, and sealed.
