BGAnderson wrote:
�
"I think its a shame that the tower collapsed last night. I'm going to guess the heavy rains and a lack of proper maintenance were the cause.
How many other historic buildings are going to fall before we really invest in historic preservation?"
There are more than two sides to this issue. Especially when the edifice involved is or was a church�
I heard on the news that this building wasn't really being used as a church anymore, but as a shelter.� In that regard it is amazing and wonderful that no one was seriously injured or worse.
Actually, it was still an active Church. It is a "typical" "store-front" church, not unlike the Reverend Larry and the antil-McPentrafacation folks down the block.
The last I knew, the congregation numbered around 50.
The "muti-purpose" room of the church was used as a "day-care" Christian Academy during the day and, apparently, as a homeless shelter in the evening.
Not that long ago it was an active Episcopal Church with an adjoining Seminary. The Seminary building is now a "community help organization" (I forget its name) which built the parking lot across the street. I believe that ownership of the church building was transferred about 10, maybe 15 years ago.
I'm going to go with the guess that the heavy rains we've been having did weaken the structure and the one yesterday was just the last straw.
The property was "under repair." No, I don't know exactly what that means. I know that one of the stained glass windows in the multi-purpose room had recently been removed for work. The scaffolding was still in place.
The "tower" had been a "known problem" for several months. Pieces of facade had fallen, and the entire front of the church was blocked (to the sidewalk) with chain link fencing. How extensive the "known problem" happened to be I have no idea. All this is just from sidewalk observations.
To me, there is a difference between preservation and designation.� The first does try, with (I believe?) the help of federal/state funding along with private investors, to restore/rehab/repair.� Designation, on the other hand,�forces an individual to fork over money they may not have to restore/rehab/repair in a way that a small group of people decide is right with no help/funding from the government - state or federal.
This particular property is typical of the bulk of the churches in West Philadelphia. They were built as exalted edifices 100 to 150 years ago. Then, nominally 50 years ago, when "white flight" was at its height, they were abandoned by their congregations. Since then, they have typically, been occupied by a succession of "too poor to maintain them" organizations -- either religious or otherwise. Those which have remained as religious edifices are in the worst repair... those which were not re-uses for religious purposes have long since been torn down, or converted into speakeasies.
The unique problem of a religious structure is that when it was built it was typically an extremely "good" structure; representing the best that the congregation could conceive. Affordability was not really an issue at the time they were built. "Organized Religion" was growing and raising money for a "new church" was comparatively easy. (No more difficult than it was during Franklin's time when they built the steeple on Christ Church, which just celebrated its anniversary!)
So today, you have "what's left." Historic designation or Historic Preservation is utterly meaningless in this context. The simple fact of the matter is -- nobody gives a damm what happens to these structures, except for a few people who want to tell others what they can and cannot do with their properties. When these few are gone, they're gone, and they won't be an issue anymore.
I am fairly certain that because of the damage done to the main sanctuary's roof when the tower collapsed, the entire building will come down. For one thing -- tonight's rain simply poured into that hole soaking the wooden floors and plaster walls inside, further damaging the interior.
Of course, the hulk may simply sit there with a chain-link fence around it for 5 or 10 years. I would be very surprised if the congregation has no funds to pay for the removal of the ruble of the tower, let alone demolition of the remainder of the tower (there is barely one floor still standing) and repairs to the roof and the sanctuary. So unless the City needs debris for landfill someplace, the pile will sit there for quite some time.
T.T.F.N. William H. Magill [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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