On January 22, 2008, notice was posted that Always Fast expediting firm will be obtaining demolition permits for St. Savior’s Church in Maspeth, Queens. A distinctive local icon, St. Savior’s has been under threat of demolition since being sold to Maspeth Development in 2005. Despite sustained public outcry and seemingly obvious merit, the 1847 church never received a Public Hearing before the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The time has come for the City to act to save this important landmark before it is torn down and lost forever.
St. Savior’s deserves its day in court.
The Case For Landmarking
St. Savior’s was designed and built beginning in 1847 by a significant architect, Richard Upjohn. Upjohn (1802-1878) was arguably the nation’s finest architect of churches. Among his surviving New York City works are designated landmarks such as Trinity Church and Church of the Ascension in Manhattan and Brooklyn’s Church of the Pilgrims, Grace Church and the gates of Green-Wood Cemetery. The design for St. Savior’s was used as a prototype for other churches, and sketches very similar to the church were included in Upjohn’s influential 1852 book Upjohn’s Rural Architecture. The church was founded by prominent local pioneers, including U.S. Congressman James Maurice, poet Garrit Furman and the son-in-law of Dewitt Clinton, Judge David S. Jones. and its importance is increased by being a rare New York City survivor of a once popular building type, a wooden, village church. Finally, in addition to its architectural and historical significance, St. Savior’s is an archaeologically sensitive site. Uncovered artifacts date from the Revolutionary War and there are believed to be buried remains of both early parishioners and Native Americans. For more information about St. Savior's, see http://www.junipercivic.com/HistoryArticle.asp?nid=9
Lack of Rationale for City Inaction
After a 2006 Request for Evaluation, a staff committee of LPC ruled that repairs undertaken after a 1970 fire made the church ineligible for landmarking stating, “the original fabric of the complex has been altered beyond recognition”. This decision runs contrary to other findings and practices of the agency:
*A requirement of original fabric (or a certain percentage of) is not set forth in the Landmarks Law. The Law states only that a building needs to at least 30 years of age and be of architectural, cultural or historic significance.
*The architectural conservation firm of Jablonski Building Conservation studied the structure and concluded that most of its historic fabric, including the decorative wood shingles and other Gothic Revival details, remained intact.
*Among the church’s alterations is its vinyl siding, an easily removable offence. LPC recently held a very positive hearing for the Congregation Tifereth Israel in Corona, Queens. The 1911 wood-framed synagogue is now covered in stucco, and its wood porch has been replaced with brick steps. Many other landmarks throughout the city have had similar alterations. The synagogue is expected to be landmarked in February.
Landmarking is not only reserved for pristine buildings, but is used to promote and encourage the proper restoration of historic structures.
Another 2 Columbus Circle?
That the LPC has refused to hold a Public Hearing for St. Savior’s, regardless of its outcome, points to a failure of the City to fulfill its mandated responsibility of surveying, identifying and protecting New York’s historic buildings. This is not the first time in recent years that the Landmarks Preservation Commission has failed to respond to a community’s pleas to consider historically and architecturally significant buildings. Like the recent case of another architecturally significant building, 2 Columbus Center, St. Savior’s is an unfortunate example of an important building that mysteriously has not even been given a chance for survival. Unlike 2 Columbus Circle however, there is almost a unanimity of community, scholarly and political support for the designation. So what’s the hold-up?
The Path to Preservation
Over the past few years, the Landmarks Preservation Commission has stepped in at the 11th hour to save buildings from demolition. Wood-framed 19th-century buildings such as the Elwell House in Prospect Heights, the Elkins House in Crown Heights North, the Bedell House in Tottenville and the Richardson House in Arrochar are only still standing because of the courageous and principled stance of the LPC in bring these structures forward for consideration despite (in one case) a pending demolition permit. Consideration and even a hearing by the LPC is not a guarantee of preservation – the Dakota Stables, 150 Taylor Street and Mariner’s Asylum were all recently heard by the LPC and rejected for landmark status – but the integrity of the process and the agency were strengthened by these actions. Evidence should be openly submitted by both sides, people’s opinions should be heard, and the Commission’s decisions and reasonings should be made public.
HDC demands that the Landmarks Preservation Commission hold a public hearing to consider St. Savior’s Church in Maspeth, Queens as a potential New York City landmark. This important historic site is about to be torn down and so far, the public has been denied “our day in court”. The next move is up to the City and the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
That the LPC has refused to hold a Public Hearing for St. Savior’s, regardless of its outcome, points to a failure of the City to fulfill its mandated responsibility of surveying, identifying and protecting New York’s historic buildings. This is not the first time in recent years that the Landmarks Preservation Commission has failed to respond to a community’s pleas to consider historically and architecturally significant buildings. Like the recent case of another architecturally significant building, 2 Columbus Center, St. Savior’s is an unfortunate example of an important building that mysteriously has not even been given a chance for survival. Unlike 2 Columbus Circle however, there is almost a unanimity of community, scholarly and political support for the designation. So what’s the hold-up?
The Path to Preservation
Over the past few years, the Landmarks Preservation Commission has stepped in at the 11th hour to save buildings from demolition. Wood-framed 19th-century buildings such as the Elwell House in Prospect Heights, the Elkins House in Crown Heights North, the Bedell House in Tottenville and the Richardson House in Arrochar are only still standing because of the courageous and principled stance of the LPC in bring these structures forward for consideration despite (in one case) a pending demolition permit. Consideration and even a hearing by the LPC is not a guarantee of preservation – the Dakota Stables, 150 Taylor Street and Mariner’s Asylum were all recently heard by the LPC and rejected for landmark status – but the integrity of the process and the agency were strengthened by these actions. Evidence should be openly submitted by both sides, people’s opinions should be heard, and the Commission’s decisions and reasonings should be made public.
HDC demands that the Landmarks Preservation Commission hold a public hearing to consider St. Savior’s Church in Maspeth, Queens as a potential New York City landmark. This important historic site is about to be torn down and so far, the public has been denied “our day in court”. The next move is up to the City and the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
