[MassHistPres] Churches in LHDs

[slater at alum.rpi.edu]

We are not attempting to interfere with the Diocese's decision-making
process. We are only trying to prevent these buildings from being
ultimately demolished. We have 2 churches in the process, one is across
from a Walgreens at a busy intersection -- prime location for a CVS. The
other is in an area also desirable for commercial development. 

We lost a church last year in Springfield to a small commercial
development. The church, St. Joseph's, was on the National Register, but
was not in a local historic district, so since the development was
private, nothing could be done.

I'm looking to cite some paramount case that ruled that it is not a
violation of church/state separation to include a church in a LHD.

Thanks,

Ralph 

<-----Original Message----->Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Church was
orginally
>placed in the Newton Upper Falls Historic District more than 30 years
ago. The
>district was established in accordance with Chapter 40 C of the
Massachusetts
>General Laws. Mary Immaculate of Lourdes was designated for closing in
the
>first round of recent parish closings by the Archdiocese of Boston.
Another
>Parish, St.Philip Neri, that was a spin off of Mary Immaculate seventy
years
>before, had been expected to close. It was spared. After months of
respectful
>but impassioned advocacy by the people of Mary Immaculate, many of them
the
>descendents of those who had built it in 1910, the Archdiocese changed
its
>mind. At a meeting at St. Philip Neri, the Archdiocese spokesman
announced that
>Philip Neri would be closed as an English speaking parish and left
temporarily
>in the hands of the Korean Catholic Community of Boston, who had been
sharing it
>with the English speaking Congregation. They were given one year of
>discernment and are still there four years later.
>
>When one of the die-hard Philip Neri asked why the decision had been
reversed,
>he explained that the Archdiocese had determined that the location of
Mary
>Immaculate in the Upper Falls Historic District would severely restrict
the
>changes that could be made to its exterior appearance (certainly
including
>demolition) without the permission of the Historic District Commission
which
>clearly would reject any significant changes. As a result, the building
could
>not easily be sold off. This is a clearly relevant precedent for the
>Springfield parish although the long term placement in the District was
clearly
>a more advantageous position
>for the MIOL parishionners. The fact that we had pointed out the
historic
>district status (and beauty) of the building for years before they
acknowledged
>it was a bittersweet irony. As that noted theologian Homer Simpson
often
>remarked, "D'oh!"
>
>It should also be noted that St. Bernard's church in West Newton was
proposed
>for closing. We amended the city's Landmark Ordinance so that St.
Bernard's
>could be landmarked as a property eligible for the National Register;
the owner
>was clearly going to reject its listing. Subsequently the church was
spared and
>put in a two church parish with an adjacent parish
>
>
>Alderman Brian Yates, Newton Mass.,,(BYates at newtonma.gov; e-mail;
>website BrianYates.org)
>
>Historic Preservation Chair, Committee to Save Mary Immaculate of
Lourdes Parish
>
>
>On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 11:12 AM, <slater at alum.rpi.edu> wrote:
>
>I have to imagine that the inclusion of a church in a historic district
is
>well-settled law, since I know of so many churches which are in
historic
>districts. Can someone point me to a prominent case which I can cite?
>
>In Springfield, the Roman Catholic Diocese is trying to advance an
argument that
>including one of its church in a historic district is a violation of
the
>separation of church and state.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Ralph Slate
>Springfield, MA 
>
>******************************
>For administrative questions regarding this list, please contact
>Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us directly. PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY" TO THE
WHOLE LIST.
>MassHistPres mailing list
>MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
>http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres
>******************************** 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/private/masshistpres/attachments/20091207/811a31ac/attachment.htm>