A tipster writes in that the Parish House of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church, at 30 East 31st St., "is going to be put on the market in the next year. The owner wants to deliver the building empty, because apparently if torn down (gasp!) the lot can be developed some 30 stories up--perfect for a fancy high-rise or hotel. It still has a gorgeous old elevator that needs to be hand operated, and the detail in the building is exquisite. Built in 1905, it should be landmarked."
The Parish House has had a long history of providing space to arts organizations. The Viola Farber Dance Company moved here in 1977, after a previous eviction, and in 1978 the Parish House was also home to the Bel Canto Opera Company.
Currently, the building houses The Dokoudovsky New York Conservatory of Dance, where classes take place in a gorgeous studio with 28-foot ceilings, and the New York Theatre Ballet, about which the Times wrote, "This place really does know children and how to introduce them to the joy of dance."
The news of the sale also came out recently in The Real Deal. They wrote,
"When the market turned around this year, the church decided it was time to sell, 'due to the inability to rehabilitate the building [because of cost], the exorbitant upkeep cost and the current market condition,' wrote Faith Grill, chair of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church Trustees, in a letter to parishioners...
The development, with 46,500 buildable square feet, is zoned for ground-up construction of a residential or hotel property including ground-floor retail."
The building is beautiful. The American Institute of Architects Guide to New York City describes it as an "Offbeat gem in brick and limestone. Middle Eastern motifs decorate the spandrels of its Romanesque Revival body. Atop it all a copper cornice forms an overhanging eave supported by exotic brackets."
Even the sign above the door is special. Thomas Rinaldi at New York Neon says it's a rare panel reflector, of which only three exist in Manhattan, and which date back to the 1920s and 30s. Rinaldi writes, "This very handsome sign is one of my favorites of any variety in New York, with great blackletter and script lettering, and stainless steel and porcelain enameled sheet metal."
Ladies in the Parish House, 1907, from MCNY
How is this building not landmarked?
According to the LPC, "The Landmarks Law requires that, to be designated, a potential landmark must be at least 30 years old and must possess 'a special character or special historical or aesthetic interest or value as part of the development, heritage, or cultural characteristics of the city, state, or nation.'"
I'd say the Parish House qualifies. If you agree, please submit the form to propose it for landmarking. Even if the buyer turns it into a shopping mall, landmarking means it won't be demolished.
jeremiah, take the lead. this is a beautiful& important building. NYC will be anywhere USA if we dont stop this.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the backhoes begin the gut-wrenching (to me) task of slamming into and collapsing the side walls of Mary Help of Christians this morning, thanks to the LPC refusing to even consider saving it, and watching a church that took manual laborers God knows how much time, love and dedication to build, be destroyed in the space of days, I realize that anything in this farce of a city can be destroyed now. Penn Station shoulda larned me, but I guess hope springs eternal. But only up to a point - I have none now.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a crime to desroy this jewel of architecture.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it a crime to sell the building if the building is no longer functional? Why should the property owner have the burden of maintaining an architectural gem for your benefit without compensation? If you are so interested in saving "architectural gems" then why don't you buy the building (or raise the money to buy the building)?
ReplyDeleteJohn
The saga continues regarding the sale of the Madison Ave Baptist Church parish house. Last Sunday when a male church member suggested that closing the parish house would leave the church w/o a childcare ctr - he was attacked by a Black woman who claimed that the church had spent a fortune on childcare for his kid alone. Madison Av Baptist Church-kids and families not welcome. Etta T
ReplyDelete@john you're a sociopath.
ReplyDeleteThis building was denied landmark status many years ago. No one even knows who the architect was. The building is unstable and the church can no longer afford to fix what has been required yearly by the city. It is in danger of being condemned. Please do your homework on this kind of issue before you assume that churches are greedy for needing to sell their real estate.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the silliest argumentative comment sequences I have ever read. First off, the "beautiful and important building", this "Architectural gem", the obscure references to the AIA mention of its being an "offbeat gem" has no reference whatsoever to who the actual architect even was. Why? Because no one even knows. Why? Because the building was of no architectural importance whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteJust because a building is over 30 years old doesn't make it good, and doesn't make it worthy of preservation. It would be an extreme long shot for this building to even come close to qualifying for preservation as something of historical importance and/or beauty. Let's face it folks, what you have in most of these comments is the personal agendas of people and companies who want to keep this building alive because their own economic interests are entwined with it. Unfortunately, none of this takes into consideration the needs and responsibilities of the Church that owns the current, dilapidated building and has the responsibility and expense of its upkeep -- an expense and responsibility that probably goes far beyond what it realized in return from its tenants.
It is both fine and commendable to seek the preservation of important architectural elements of New York. To do so for your own personal agenda is both selfish and destructive.
The sub-head of this blog is "Vanishing New York". New York is enlarging, not vanishing. Some things are worth preserving. Others, less worthy, should make way for further, better development. This city is constantly changing. Many of the structures going up right now are truly architectural gems that will probably need preservationists to protect them at some future date. Let's get the politics out of this blog and get to where it has some real meaning. Otherwise, what really needs to be demolished is this blog and its anonymous, self-serving posts.
would the buiding make for interesting condos? or rentals? i think we need all kinds of architecture in NYC. ok dont hate me for this: if jackie onassis were alive she would fight to keep this. yes i know she was wealthy (thats a crime on this blog), but she also had connections. she was a lover of history, she may have even bought it & made it into a musuem. (i can no longer use the name LR as there is another poster w/my initials).
ReplyDeleteArchitects are Charles Butler (1871-1953) and Cary S. Rodman. Butler also designed the United States General Services Administration Building, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing about this building. I've been attending classes there for over twenty year. Each time I set into the building I enter another world -- and as I go up the first flight of (marble) stairs, I marvel that I can have this experience in NY. And this is not to mention that my dance school offers something even more precious -- an artform that is preserved in a direct line to the Maryinski theatre in Russia, a school founded by a member of the Ballet Russe who brought classical ballet to America, a school where Danilova and Nureyev would dance when they were in town, a ballet class taught by a graceful, dedicated ballerina. Why should all this have to disappear. It is a very functional, very precious place.
ReplyDeleteWhile taking my daughter to ballet class this morning, the director of the school informed us that the building had been sold and is going to be torn down. Having taken the amazing elevator in this building and walked the floors admiring the halls, it felt like a punch in the gut hearing all of this was going to be destroyed.
ReplyDeleteIt is possible that all those years of bodies jumping up and down on those hardwood floors has knocked everything loose! It is a charming building, with a marvelous human history. It also has hard, uneven floors and steep stairs to the few bathrooms. Hardly luxurious! Nevertheless, it would be nice if it could continue. But buildings just don't last forever in most cases. The shame is that new buildings are so crude.
ReplyDelete