Two UWS Churches Awarded Grants for Historic Restorations

Two churches on the UWS are among 15 in the state who will getting getting a little help in their historic restoration projects after the New York Landmarks Conservancy has awarded the two historic structures a total of $57,000.

The largest grant for $45,000 is going to the United Methodist Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew at 263 West 86th Street, which is in the midst of a restoration project that is ultimately estimated to cost $5 million to shore up the 127-year-old roof that sits atop the church.

A $12,000 grant was awarded to St. Michael’s Episcopal Church at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue for work on its window restoration project, which will enable the historic windows to be restored rather than replaced.

They are part of a list of 15 churches and synagogues throughout New York State to receive these grants, which total $321,000.

“Our grants support the preservation of these landmark buildings, which are important anchors for their members and their communities,” said Peg Breen, president of the New York Landmarks Conservancy.

Rev. Dr. K. Karpen at the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew said the grant will go towards a partial roof replacement on the southern slope. He said that the church eventually hopes to replace the entire roof, which is a project that will cost them a total of $5.5 million.

“We’re starting with the south roof, and that’s what the Conservancy is helping us with,” Dr. Karpen said.

“It all needs to be replaced. There are leaks—so far, small leaks—but they’re not going away. The roof’s been up there 127 years...it’s been great, but it’s time to get a new roof.”

Dr. Karpen said that the restorations should begin in the Spring. “The building’s used 24/7 by thousands of people a week, so it’s really important to keep it going.”

According to the Conservancy, the church—which was completed in 1897—was a “key work” in the career of New York architect Robert H. Robertson and is a “relatively early application of the Beaux Arts classical color palette, light buff brick and terra cotta, to an ecclesiastical structure.”

Today, the church’s approximately 800 volunteers reach roughly 100,000 people each year through collaboration with over 25 city-wide organizations (such as by giving migrant families clothing, toiletries, and breakfast) and serves as a headquarters for several other organizations including the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, Goddard Riverside’s TOP Clubhouse, the Bedlam Theater Company, and the West End Theatre.

Services run through the church include adult ESOL and Spanish-language classes, children’s music and theater classes, after-school tutoring and homework help, as well as 12-step programs for those recovering from substance abuse. Concerts and rehearsals for various groups are also held at the church, including Broadway Inspirational Voices, the Talea Ensemble, Camerata Notturna; in addition, the church has a partnership with Carnegie Hall’s Citywide series. Local synagogues, such as B’nai Jeshurun, use the church for High Holiday services as well as for Sukkot.

St. Michael’s Rev. Katharine Flexer explained that the $12,000 grant is to help restore the historic Parish House windows; specifically, the eight arched windows that line the front of the first floor.

”They are badly deteriorated, but following Landmarks guidelines, we are restoring and not replacing them,” she wrote in an email.

“The grant is helping us make our space more comfortable and energy efficient for the congregation and all the community groups who use it.”

The church traces its roots to 1807 when northern Manhattan was still fairly open. It was organized by several parishioners of Trinity Church Wall Street because they built summer houses in Manhattan’s Bloomingdale section, according to the Conservancy. The neighborhood was more densely settled by the late 19th century, when the edge of urban development had reached the Upper West Side. The current building (the church’s second) was designed by architect Robert W. Gibson, and was completed in 1891. Inside the building’s large sanctuary and crossing are a wide variety of windows, memorials, and decoration “executed between 1893 and 1920, by notable artists such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, Maitland Armstrong, J & R Lamb, and Charles Connick,” the Conservancy said.

Through activities such as Unity of New York, 12-step groups, the Saturday Kitchen, tutoring and youth programs, a preschool, acting classes, language-learning programs such as ESOL classes, Russian classes, and a Chinese-language school, St. Michael’s Church reaches about 1,500 people beyond its membership. The church also has music programming, which includes an adult choir, the Unforgettable Chorus for people with dementia and their caregivers, the Opportunity Music Project, the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, Apes and Keyboards LLC, the Mendelssohn Glee Club, and the Adam Chernick Student Recital. The church also has exercise classes, support groups, and a knitting group.

The New York Landmarks Conservancy is a private non-profit organization that has been devoted to the preservation and protection of New York City’s architectural legacy for more than 50 years. Its Sacred Sites Program, which began in 1986, is responsible for providing congregations with matching grants for planning and implementing exterior restoration projects, in addition to technical assistance and workshops. The program has pledged nearly 1,700 grants (totaling over $14.2 million) to more than 850 religious institutions across the state, and has helped fund over $760 million in repair and restoration projects.