The Villager has the scoop on the near-destruction of St. Brigid’s church:
State Supreme Court Justice Michael Stallman issued a temporary restraining order against the demolition pending a July 25 hearing.The lawsuit is the latest effort by the Committee to Save St. Brigid’s to preserve the 1848 church building at 119 Avenue B, which was closed in 2001 because of a dangerous crack in the east wall, and to revive their parish, which the archdiocese dissolved in 2004.
I went to a community development forum not too long ago where one of the representative’s of St. Brigid’s spoke. It’s horrific what the congregation has had to deal with. Long story short, the arch diocese told them they had to close because it was going to cost too much to repair a crack in the wall. The members of the church got together and got their own estimate of the damage, which was something like 1/3 of what the diocese had estimated.
They then raised money to have the repairs made, around $100,000, but still fell short; the diocese kept the church closed, AND kept the money raised. They want to destroy the building and sell the land — to residential developers for a killing.
Greed + God — two great tastes that go great together. In the meantime, actual believers are out on the street with no place to worship or have a sense of community.