St Thomas, closed last year, will be replaced by housing

Anti-abomination ^ | 30th July 2004 | Sabrina Tavernise

[AskStPhilomena]

St. Thomas the Apostle Church, the 1907 Harlem landmark that closed last year because of low membership, will be torn down, and a home for the elderly will be built in its place, church officials said yesterday.

The Archdiocese of New York said it was planning a 57-unit building on the site of the church, which closed last summer after it could no longer afford to pay for repairs. A spokesman for the archdiocese, Joseph Zwilling, said he did not know when the church would be demolished, but said construction on the new building would begin late next year.

The church, just west of St. Nicholas Avenue on West 118th Street, is known for its ornate neo-Gothic facade and graceful stained glass windows. It has been passionately defended by advocates who say the archdiocese can afford to keep it open.

Anthony Flood, who has publicly opposed the demolition of the church, reiterated his opposition last night.

“We find the rationale insufficient,” said Mr. Flood, one of the church’s defenders. “It’s like, ‘Gee, we’re hungry, let’s sell the kids.’ What an extreme to have to go to. Are we that poor.?”

But Mr. Zwilling said that attendance had dropped off sharply in the years before the church closed. An average of eight people had attended Mass during the weekday services, and 100 to 200 people on Sundays. It had also fallen into a state of disrepair, he said.

“Very few people use the church any longer,” Mr. Zwilling said.

Church officials decided the property would be better used for homes for the elderly, he said. Rising rents and the waning of rent subsidy programs have increased demand for low-income housing.

Church officials have applied for a grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to pay for the construction of the building, he said.

Mr. Zwilling also said the archdiocese had created a not-for-profit corporation, New York Catholic Homes, Inc., which will “seek to build affordable housing,” for the elderly and for low- and moderate-income families. The building in Harlem will be its first project, Mr. Zwilling said.

It is not, however, the first residential apartment building the archdiocese has undertaken. The High Houses in the Bronx offer apartments for rent and for sale to families with low- and moderate-incomes, he said.

[AskStPhilomena]

Related links:
http://www.anti-abomination.com/nonprophet.htm
http://www.anti-abomination.com/swantontoTimes080104.htm
http://www.anti-abomination.com/floodtoTimes073104.htm