Isn’t there a better way?

Letter to the Editor

The plan for the Holy Innocents Church site on 6th Street between Willow and Clinton Streets is currently under scrutiny by the Zoning Board, as well as by many concerned members of the general public. There are many questions.

All Saints Episcopal Parish, which owns the property, desires to create an elementary school on the site. The questions are: Have other sites been explored for the school? Have developers of new buildings in the city been approached, as other schools have done, inquiring into the possibility of using 35,000 sq. ft. for a school? If that is ruled out, could the school be split between the All Saints Washington Street property and the 6th Street site? Why not use the Rectory building connected to the Parish building for the school?

As always, money is a problem. A nine-story building in place of the demolished Rectory structure and semi-demolished Parish house is intended to be the funding source with which to restore the church building (and help pay for the school?) Other questions are: Will sufficient income be spun off after demolition and construction costs are considered as well as the initial renovations to the church? Will the projected sales and maintenance fees from the 50 residential units planned for the upper seven floors of the high rise be sufficient to sustain the church building in a stable and reusable condition? Why hasn’t the parish sought state/federal funding for restoration of the church? Have any thoughts been given to creating an “eco-tecture,” environmentally sensitive, “green,” non toxic (and therefore more apt to command higher prices) of lower height and heat-resistant glass facade? Has it looked into foundation assistance to create a “green demo” building?

A major reason for saving historic buildings is that they are a way for us to comprehend what by-gone days were like; they are our eyes on the past. In the case of Holy Innocents, they also form our understanding of the vision and intent of the founder, Martha Bayard Stevens. She wanted a beautiful, calm setting for this memorial to her daughter whose grandfather and uncles were among the outstanding inventors of their day; they looked forward and challenged their time. What better way to continue the memorial to Julia Stevens than with new ideas. Let’s try to make whatever happens on this site fit into the history of that creative family and a community anxious to preserve its past.

Hoboken Quality of Life Coalition, Inc.

May 22, 2007

Helen Manogue 201-963-3511
Paul Neshamkin 201-714-4881
Ken Geraghty 201-656-0237
Bill Tobias 201-714-9994
Melissa Abernathy 201-792-4936
John Branciforte 201-420-6645
Bob Duval 201-798-3143
Ines GarciaKeim 201-792-7097
Cynthia Silber 201-656-3074