Friday, May 14, 2010

Ridgewood congregation hopes to hold onto church

From the Daily News:

The United Presbyterian Church at 60th Place shares its building with the Rock Fitness Center, which draws fitness buffs and weightlifters from all over.

And it has hired a real estate broker to see if anyone is interested in developing the property.

Ideally, members would like to build senior citizen housing on the land surrounding the church as a way to serve the community and increase income.

But members said they can't rule out the sad possibility that the stunning sanctuary, with its impressive stained-glass windows, may one day be put up for sale and demolished.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a common story. Folks don't go to church anymore, much less contribute money. There are dozens of historic congregations (and churches) around the city that will not make it to 2020. These old churches are enormously expensive to maintain. Their properties, most likely, will be sold to the highest bidders.

Anonymous said...

Sir, your grasp of preservation and real estate sense is only exceeded by your knowlege of what makes communities work.

Not.

Anonymous said...

Actually, the tweeder programs are very expensive to maintain, and unlike churches, wreck institutions (hospitals, schools) and then communities.

These programs will undoubtedly shut down as the economic malaise spreds. (One of the reasons the Repbublicans went on a spending spree a decade ago)

Joe said...

Hate to say this let it go to a developer before Catholic Charity's dupes & drops a Trojan on this community's head.
It will become a sanctuary alright. Ask anybody from Texas or Southern California.

-Joe
I was born Catholic BTW