The Convent Avenue Baptist Church located just below 145th Street on Convent Avenue appears to be finally making some progress with the controversial elevator shaft addition that broke ground this past April. Signs on the plywood have the completion date set for last fall but the top photo shows only one wall that has started to appear on the side lot. This location is within the Hamilton Heights Historic District and the community board landmark committee was embattled in the final approval of the new structure that looks like it was designed in the 60s. At the end, the local landmark board members saw that the need to have the elevator installed outweighed the aesthetic of the landmark district and the proposed design passed by only a handful of votes:
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Ugh. EW.
ReplyDeleteAnd to make matters worse, they cut down one of the most beautiful trees in the neighborhood to facilitate construction.
ReplyDeleteHow did this architectural offense get approved? Political connections?
ReplyDeleteExactly, Uptown Girl. It helps that Councilman Robert Jackson's office is actually located in the church's building on 144th street. So much for separation of church and state, huh? Not only did they ram this awful design through landmark approval, they were also forced to obtain a variance approval (relatively easily, I may add) because the other addition they constructed several years ago is - surprise, surprise -illegal. Now, with this construction, they've been shady on work permits (their permits did not allow earth movers back there), they are totally off schedule (their permits expired last August) and, recently, it looks like they've switched contractors or something strange because the contact phone number that is supposed to be posted prominently with the work permits (per NYC building code) is suddenly covered up. Then again, what do you expect from the organization that has owned PS 186 on 145th street for the past 40 years and defaulted on their obligation to restore it despite collecting tax breaks the whole time? This "church"/organization has been skirting the law for years! The only think that stopped them from continuing to allow their members to double park illegally on 144th street (and use their heft to prevent tickets from being issued) is that a kid almost bled to death because the ambulance and fire truck couldn't get to him. But I digress... this new construction is an unnecessary eye sore that cheapens the rich architectural heritage of this beautiful block and the landmarked church. No one said the new addition for an elevator had to look like a failed architecture project.
ReplyDelete@Max - Thanks for the info. That is terribly sad. And if a rendering looks this amateurish, imagine how the final product will look. Time to change the old school politics uptown.
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