This morning, reps for Middle Collegiate Church will appear before the Landmarks Preservation Commission to seek approval to demolish what's left of the fire-damaged façade at 122 Second Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. (Find meeting details
here. There is a livestream via the LPC's
YouTube channel.)
In a 46-page report (PDF
here), presented jointly by several architectural and engineering firms, church leaders say they must remove what remains on the property that lies within the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. According to the report, the culmination of a review over 18 months, there is too much damage to the existing structure to integrate it into Middle Collegiate's new home, that it wouldn't withstand a full-scale rebuild on the property.
"This makes me feel heartbroken"
During a phone call last week with EVG, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, senior minister at the Middle Collegiate Church, said they spent $4 million to
reinforce, stabilize and weatherproof the façade in the months after the fire.
"The six-alarm fire was devastating, and the façade was badly damaged. But when something like that survives, you think, 'Well, OK — it's telling us that the structure is good and strong,'" Lewis said. "We love our church."
She said that despite these efforts, the façade has deteriorated over time. And then, their engineering report showed that it would be best to remove what was left before building a new church.
"It felt like something died," Lewis said of hearing this news. "The building burning felt like a death — a big death. This makes me feel heartbroken. It feels like a second loss. But if we let it go, we could get back on site, get back in the space and build something."
She now wants to focus on working with the Landmarks Preservation Commission to build something appropriate that honors their history and gives Middle Church a ministry for the 22nd Century in the East Village — and not in a new location in another neighborhood.
We've talked with several residents who expressed disappointment that the remains — with approval — would need to come down. Residents said that the bell tower was a sign of resilience for the neighborhood.
"We're disappointed too. And [the remaining façade] is a sign of resilience," she said. "It is a symbol that this fire couldn't conquer the building."
Disappointment aside, there is also opposition to the request for demolition.
The Village Preservation is urging the Landmarks Preservation Commission not to grant permission for demolition — at least for now.
We don’t believe there is sufficient documentation that alternatives to preserve the historic façade have been fully explored, nor that there is sufficient evidence at this time to justify the permanent and irreversible removal.
We are calling for further examination and documentation before such a decision would be appropriate to render.
We want to see the church rebuild and flourish at this location, and know that they have been through incredible hardship. But we also believe that this process must be extremely carefully considered, to ensure unchangeable decisions that could have been avoided are not made, and harmful precedents are not set for allowing demolition of historically significant structures without reasonable and achievable proof of the necessity of doing so.
In addition, Richard Moses, president of the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, released this statement: "We're sympathetic to the very real challenges the congregation faces here. But this building has been a beacon for the neighborhood for over 100 years. It's one of the most important sites in the historic district. We just want to make sure that the Landmarks Commissioners have the best information and all the options spelled out before deciding on the building’s fate."
Lewis said that she understands the opposition. She has also seen a report from an engineer hired by the Landmarks Preservation Commission who paid two recent visits to the site. That report states that the structure is stable.
"We relive the fire daily and try to think about what to do with it. It's that kind of grief that just keeps coming in waves," Lewis said. "At some point, two years in, I want to be able to say to my community: We did the very best we could with this. This is not a willy-nilly, hurry-up decision. The engineer says we can't keep it, and we're heartbroken."
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You can read more about the Middle Church Rising campaign
here.
Previously on EV Grieve:
