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	A New Mission When Churches Close, Once-Holy Edifices Remain to Assume a Different Purpose. By Daniel Patrick Sheehan Morning Call June 8, 2008 http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-videoycdt.6446695jun08,0,5947742.story When the Catholic Diocese of Allentown announced the impending closure of nearly 50 churches, it raised a practical question with implications for this region's landscape, history and culture: What will become of all that real estate? If the past is any guide, some of the buildings may become apartment houses, private homes or houses of worship for other faiths. Others may be transformed into boutiques or restaurants. Some may be razed. Who knows? Maybe one or two will be transformed into health clubs. It's not so far-fetched. Lehighton's former Wesley United Methodist Church, which closed because of declining membership, is now the Cathedral Rock Gym. "I basically started with a beautiful building that had wall-to-wall carpeting and stained glass windows," said Doug Jugan, who bought the church in April 1995. Jugan and his partner had notions of opening a restaurant in the building, but a moratorium on new sewer connections prevented that. So Jugan, a registered nurse and medical helicopter paramedic, installed 30-foot climbing walls and a rappelling tower. Today, coal-region firefighters use the place to practice strip-mine rescue techniques, while Boy Scout troops and civilian adventurers practice rock climbing. "You can basically do anything with a church," Jugan said. That depends on the church, of course. St. Michael on Easton's Spring Garden Street, where parishioners must walk up a flight of stairs to reach the sanctuary, is a good example of an architectural challenge in an age of mandatory accessibility. "To turn a church into a hospital use or elderly housing, that might be difficult to do," said Benjamin L. Walbert, an architect who has converted two churches. The cost of any adaptation "depends on the function -- how natural the proposed use is with the building," he said. Walbert, who has an office in Allentown and lives in Jim Thorpe, turned an 1840 Moravian Church in Nazareth into a 10-unit apartment building. When he did the job in 1987, the church -- which had served, variously, as a school, a private gym and a swimming pool -- had been abandoned for years. Walbert also converted an old church in downtown Quakertown into law and insurance offices about 15 years ago. He noted that two old churches in downtown Jim Thorpe have been converted into other uses. One is the Mauch Chunk Museum and Cultural Center and the other is an art gallery. And the Allentown Art Museum is housed in the original home of the city's First Presbyterian Church. He speculated some of the smaller Catholic churches could end up as second homes for the well-to-do seeking small-town respite from the urban rat race. "For someone from New York or Philadelphia, it might be a wonderful getaway home," he said. Selling in a slow market Church buildings are potentially a hard sell for some of the same reasons the diocese is closing them in the first place: they can be expensive to maintain, especially to heat and cool. And many are old, sorely in need of updating and renovation. Consider, too, the sheer numbers of properties. In Schuylkill and Carbon counties, where populations in many municipalities have been graying and shrinking for decades, 38 churches are slated to close. Linda Butensky, president of the Schuylkill County Board of Realtors, said some of the rectories that served as homes for priests would make good single-family homes, but the churches would be a more difficult sell, particularly in light of the national slump in real estate sales. Parishes would probably have to offer the properties at bargain prices to entice investors, she said. But Realtor Edward Barket of Pottsville -- where two former Protestant churches have been converted into an antique store and a funeral home -- said the buildings would probably attract some interest if they hit the market, even in a recession economy. That would please the coal-town officials who have voiced concerns about having more vacant buildings added to already distressed landscapes. "Every property has some use," Barket said. "There are always people out there ready to speculate and buy a property." Diocese spokesman Matt Kerr said potential buyers had begun asking about the buildings when the consolidation process was first announced two years ago. The diocese asked the inquirers to hold off until the closings were announced. Kerr said he did not know the nature of the inquiries. The Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Diocese of Pittsburgh -- which has closed dozens of churches in a tumultuous consolidation that began 15 years ago -- said the likelihood of success in selling a church "depends on time and what's happening with the economy. And it depends, of course, on location, location, location." Some Pittsburgh churches were sold to other faith communities. "That was our first preference, that the building could continue to be used in a religious way," Lengwin said. "Some were turned into restaurants and banquet halls, depending on the size, and were brought back almost to their original condition." Churches were always sold at fair market price, "because those parishes need the money," Lengwin said. Under Catholic canon law, church buildings are the property of parishes, not dioceses. Kerr said any sale "would be a local decision, subject to diocesan approval" and that proceeds stay with the new parishes formed when the closed ones are consolidated. The diocese "in no way" benefits from the sale, he added. Before churches are put on the market, they must be prepared for sale. While there is no ceremony to deconsecrate a church, the buildings must be emptied of all sacred objects: altars, crucifixes, stations of the cross, baptismal and holy water fonts, statues and other holy images. Such items from Allentown Diocese churches are likely to end up in a warehouse repository to serve as replacements for remaining churches, Kerr said. Lengwin said it is important not to leave anything behind that could be put to "embarrassing" purposes -- a crucifix being used as decor in a nightclub, for example. In many cases, Pittsburgh parishes that sold buildings arranged to have right of first refusal on ensuing sales so churches could not be resold for objectionable uses. Stained glass windows are a tricky matter. Many contain sacred images and many are donated by families in memory of loved ones, so parishes might feel compelled to save them. Ultimately it is the bishop's place to decide what constitutes a sacred object, Lengwin said. Second best use If location is key, it bodes well for the cluster of churches on South Side Bethlehem. Amey Senape, a historic resource preservationist with the Delaware & Lehigh Heritage Corridor, speculated that the diocese may have acted too hastily in consolidating those parishes because the area is on the verge of a development boom, as Bethlehem Steel undergoes its transformation into a casino and entertainment complex. Tony Hanna, Bethlehem's director of community and economic development, said the city is deeply concerned with the future of the buildings. One, Our Lady of Pompeii, is in a historic district and protected from demolition, but two others are outside those boundaries. Hanna plans to meet with diocesan officials to offer the city's help in finding the best ways to reuse the buildings. "All the properties will have an impact on the neighborhoods if they're not redeveloped in a proper manner," Hanna said. Preservationists hope the buildings in Bethlehem and elsewhere, so intimately tied to the life of their hometowns, are kept as close to their original states as possible. "The best use of a church is as a church," said Wendy Nicholas, northeast regional director of the National Trust For Historic Preservation. "The second best would be as an arts or cultural center where the sanctuary continues to be used as a place of performance." Three years ago, the trust named historic Boston churches to its annual list of most endangered places after the Boston Archdiocese underwent consolidation. But the diocese "has been pretty lucky in finding buyers," Nicholas said. Her agency has noted some outstanding conversions. In Hartford, Conn., for example, the city symphony plans to take over the closed Christian Science church as a performance hall. "They have a sanctuary with room for 700 to 800 people and fabulous acoustics," Nicholas said. On the other end of the spectrum -- Limelight. The defunct New York City nightclub occupied a former Episcopal church on Sixth Avenue and became notorious as a gathering place for recreational drug users. "Lots of times parishes think of their buildings just as places of worship but they are very important to the larger communities," Nicholas said. "When they're closed, it is a loss for the whole community." Contact: daniel.sheehan@mcall.comor 610-820-6598.
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