VINTAGE CHURCH: RENOVATE OR REPLACE? "Our buildings are precious to us, ...
"Our buildings are precious to us, but in dealing with their future, our priority must be our ministry to the community. Whether we renovate or replace them will ultimately be decided by the New York Presbytery, based on what is deemed best for our ongoing ministry."
-Robert Brashear, 54,
pastor and urban planner
SINCE 1884, West-Park Presbyterian Church, the red sandstone sanctuary and five-story administrative building at W. 86th St. and Amsterdam Ave., has been a beloved West Side landmark-one that's shaped the neighborhood's physical and cultural landscape. The classic Victorian sanctuary, designed by noted architect Leopold Eidlitz (who also designed NYC's Tweed Courthouse and the State House in Albany), stands out against a wall of high-rise apartment buildings.
More significantly, West-Park Presbyterian serves spiritual needs of its 100 congregants and opens its doors to many hundreds more people who participate in the church's long and eclectic roster of programs ranging from social activism to the arts. In the early 1990s, when West-Park was slated to merge with and move to another Presbyterian church, congregants and neighborhood residents expressed such dismay that consolidation was cancelled.
More recently, Mother Nature and a dwindling church endowment have imposed another challenge-one that may cause the historic buildings' demise. Although West-Park Presbyterian Church is designated in the American Institute of Architects' Guide to New York City as "one of the West Side's loveliest landmarks," the buildings don't actually have official landmark status. West-Park officials-along with those at many other vintage churches around town-shunned the idea of landmarking the building because they feared subsequent restrictions would interfere with making necessary building alterations, should such situations arise.
West-Park's current-and threatening-situation began several years ago, when red mud stains appeared on sidewalks bordering the church. The sandstone was "bleeding."
Apparently, naive builders set the porous stone in such a way-with sedimentary layers positioned vertically instead of horizontally in parts of the wall-that water seepage during 100-plus years of winter freezes caused structural damage, as well as a public hazard. Protective scaffolding was erected. The church wasn't collapsing, but it certainly needed shoring up that only expensive technology could provide.
Not only was the exterior deteriorating, the roof needed repairing.
"Estimated costs of repairing the outside of the building were $2.8 million; total repairs, including the roof, could range up to $8 million. Our endowment is almost exhausted. We just don't have the money," says Robert Brashear, West-Park's senior pastor.
"In our effort to maintain our ministry at this location, we opened discussions with developers who could propose a solution for us. Basically, we'd sell air rights for construction of a high-rise residential building, but we'd build a new sanctuary next door and retain sufficient space in the new building for our community programs. The plan would entail complete replacement of our buildings."
Reacting to news that the buildings might be demolished and replaced by another light-blocking high-rise, West Side residents formed Friends of West-Park, which raised $1.5 million in contributions to restore the buildings' exteriors and renovate their interiors, and proposes to obtain another $6 to $8 million by partnering with another non-profit-a school, for example-to share the administrative building's space and maintenance costs.
At present, the historic buildings' futures lie in the balance, as West-Park officials, congregants and the Presbytery of New York City study viability and weigh merits of Friends of West-Park's plan that calls for renovation of the non-landmarked landmark building and the establishment of an ongoing revenue source. This is against the Related Companies' (Time Warner Center builders) development plan, which offers a large up-front payment for demolition of the Victorians, construction of a new sanctuary and adjacent 18-story residential tower with several floors reserved for church programs and the creation of rental units for lower income families in the neighborhood.
"Both have merit," says Brashear, who anticipates a final decision by June. "I don't want to demolish the buildings. They've become neighborhood symbols of spiritual affirmation, whether people are members or not, and I'm all for strong community commitment evidenced in Friends of West-Park's initiative. Developers offer us financial stability, but I don't like that it's tied to commercial interests. We're aware our decision is important. What we do may become a model for many other New York congregations in similar predicaments."