The story-line is all-too familiar: the preservation group Save St. Vincent de Paul, Inc., fighting to save Chelsea's St. Vincent de Paul Church from being "consolidated" by the cash-strapped Archdiocese of New York, has submitted another request for evaluation (RFE) to the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission.This is the third RFE they have filed with the LPC since 2006.
This time, the preservationists have retained the Urban Environmental Law Center to submit the RFE.
The 150-year-old Greco-Roman church sits on a valuable block-through parcel on W. 23rd St. between Sixth and Seventh Aves. The Archdiocese says it hasn't decided what to do with the 400-seat church, but that it won't maintain it just for the sake of doing so.
The LPC, citing St. Vincent’s updated façade—altered in 1939 from Romanesque Revival to Greek Revival-- says it still won't calendar the church. According to an LPC spokesperson, the church was "evaluated" and it was determined that it did not "rise to the level of an individual New York City landmark".
Advocates hope that sending copies of the application to the LPC’s individual commissioners, rather than to the staff, will help get the RFE calendared this time.
The church has a rich history. It was the first integrated church and parish school to serve African-American children. It may also be one of the only churches that feature 10 large Tiffany stained glass windows depicting scenes of French religious history.
Manhattan Community Board 4, Assemblymember Richard Gottfried, State Sen. Thomas Duane and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer all support landmarking the church.
According to its spokesperson, the LPC has to be "extremely selective about the churches that we consider for landmark designation".
The article from Chelsea Now:
http://www.chelseanow.com/cn_128/chelseachurch.html
