The Landmark Society has awarded a $1,500 grant to the Susan
B. Anthony Neighborhood Association to cover the cost of an independent
structural analysis of a former West Main Street church. Owner Marvin Maye
wants to tear down the church and replace it with a Dollar General. He says the
church building is beyond saving. (Maye’s engineer’s report is below.)
The building has been deemed by the city to be historically
important, so Maye must get the Zoning Board’s permission to proceed with his
project. The board has postponed its decision until city officials decide if a
more comprehensive environmental review is warranted.
Caitlin Meives, preservation planner with the Landmark
Society, says the $1,500 should cover the entire cost of the analysis. The
purpose is to determine if the building can be saved, she says.
“Is it structurally sound, or does
it need to be torn down right now?” she says.
The report would probably not include a cost estimate for
rehabbing the church, Meives says.
The hitch is that Maye must grant permission for the engineer
hired by the neighborhood group to enter the property. Maye initially
consented, Meives says, but later changed his mind. The neighborhood
association will continue to discuss the matter with him, she says.
Maye’s application is controversial. Those in favor argue
that the Dollar General would create jobs and help revitalize the southwest
neighborhood. Others say the church is an important historical asset and that a
Dollar General isn’t an appropriate fit for an area that has received a good
deal of investment over the last several years.
This article appears in Dec 5-11, 2012.
“Those in favor argue that the Dollar General would create jobs and help revitalize the southwest neighborhood.” – L-O-L. By “jobs” they must mean some temporary construction jobs, and then later some minimum-wage, part-time cashier jobs… fantastic… just what the neighborhood needs! Or how about the assertion that a Dollar General (i.e. cheap, throw-away junk made in China) is going to somehow “revitalize” the neighborhood… what, with the inevitable plastic bags, wrappers, etc. strewn about and blowing around the parking lot… how could one argue? Ah yes, Dollar General… the savior of city neighborhoods. Someone wake me up when the “revitalization” happens…
I spent the summer in a little village on the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; it’s beautiful up there, I recommend everyone go there on holiday once. The village, Calumet, was the center of copper mining operations in the United States for almost one hundred years. The village once had 30,000 residents and two dozen churches. It now has a population of less than 800, but several of the churches have been made into concert halls, community centers and focal points of renewal. One church, St. Anne’s, a formerly French Roman Catholic church, is now the Keweenaw Heritage Center, with photo and art exhibts, organ recitals, community dances, weddings etc. taking place. It’s made of Jacobsville sandstone, a beautiful red stone only found in parts of the Keweenaw, Ontario Province and under Lake Superior; Jacobville itself is on the south side of the Keweenaw. The building sat abandoned for 20 years; it took another decade to rehab it. From the stories the locals tell, it was in very rough shape; birds had nested in there, it was dirty, the rafters were falling down, and the sandstone was cracking.
Now, if THIS church, which has sat vacant for only TWO years, is allowed to be demolished, a piece of Rochester history will be replaced… by a Dollar General, the absolute bain of box stores. It will cost over $1 million to tear it down, and over $1 million to conserve it. Why not conserve it? It was the first church west of the Erie Canal. It has great historic value and can be salvaged. History is not only in books. History is all around us, if we have the common sense to save it, preserve it, cherish it and tell its story to others.
Why doesn’t the Landmark Society, and/or other people who want to preserve this building, purchase it and re-hab it? I’m not trying to be funny or sarcastic — seriously, why don’t those who think it needs to be preserved (and it seems like there are many) raise the funds to do so?