In 1880 a new parish was formed on Grand Rapids' west side and named for Saint Adalbert. Many in the Polish immigrant community who formed the church had come from Trzemesnzo where their former parish church was also dedicated to this saint who had been buried in a neighboring town. Saint Adalbert (939-997) was Bishop of Prague and helped to evangelize central Europe, including present day Poland. In 1907 the Grand Rapids community made plans to erect a new church and the commission was given to a Cleveland architect, Henry J. Harks. Most likely, Harks contracted Attilio and Paolo Gandola, to carve four angels which adorn the church's exterior. The four angels, each eleven feet high, sit at four corners surrounding the church's dome.

Born in northern Italy the Gandola brothers immigrated separately to the United States in the early 1900s. While in Italy, the older Attilio had spent four years studying drawing and carving. Paolo graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at the Castel Sforzesco in Milan. They reunited in Cleveland, Ohio where they founded the Gandola Brothers Monument and Architectural Works and executed architectural carvings for many buildings including the Utah State Capitol, the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Cleveland City Hall.