The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how religious communities and faith-based organizations stepped up for their neighbors in new ways, even when we couldn’t worship in person together. But houses of worship across the city were not spared from the consequences of the pandemic.
In a trend that began before the pandemic but that’s accelerated since, many religious institutions have been experiencing declining membership at the same time that their historic buildings are desperately in need of renovations and maintenance. With limited funding, we’ve needed to get creative.
For some houses of worship, adaptive reuse of their building is an important option. Many churches have literally “taken out the pews” to make room for broader community uses that blend the secular with the sacred. But financial challenges persist when dealing with aging infrastructure. That is even more so the case for buildings with landmark designations.
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has been a national leader in the preservation movement, and the city has benefited enormously from its tireless efforts. However, landmarked properties can often be extremely costly to maintain, even more so for financially strained faith-based organizations. In extreme cases, landmarking can be an institutional death sentence.
We see that struggle playing out with the West-Park Presbyterian Church on the Upper West Side, which was landmarked in 2010 against the wishes of the congregation. Nearing bankruptcy today, West-Park has looked closely at adaptive reuse options for its building as a way to address nearly $50 million in costs to repair. Unfortunately, a sale in its current condition would leave the West-Park congregation with no place for worship and no funds to support its mission.
While landmarking can be an essential tool in preserving our communities’ character and history, the commission must consider the impact that the process and designation will have on the stewards of the property. As such, the Landmarks Preservation Commission and faith leaders can still do more to deepen conversations to better balance preservation with consequences for the community when considering properties for designation.
Our city leaders can help by ensuring that no property owned by a religious corporation or affiliate can be landmarked without the approval of the impacted congregation or its governing body. The city should not pursue landmarking of a site against the wishes of the religious community that owns it unless resources are made available to the owners that can offset burdens created by the designation.
At West-Park, the congregation is now pursuing a plan that will result in the demolition but the creation of a new worship and community space as well as a new endowment. While rare, the landmarks law allows for the removal of a landmark designation through a hardship application when a property owned by a nonprofit is no longer suitable for the group’s use, is under contract for sale with a demolition clause and cannot earn a reasonable return. West-Park meets those strict conditions set forth by the Landmark Preservation Commission. If approved by the LPC, the proposal will give the congregation a fighting chance to once again be a vital resource for their members and neighbors.
Faith-based organizations and institutions provide an immense benefits to our neighborhoods. They are ultimately defined more by the people who make up our congregations and their good works than by the buildings. Together, we must do everything we can to ensure that congregations aren’t forced out of the communities in which they are most needed.
Schaper is pastor at Orient Congregational Church, associate professor for religious leadership at Hartford Seminary, former senior minister for Judson Memorial Church, and author of 38 books, most recently “Remove the Pews.”
