THE PHILADELPHIA TIMES (AP) — Following a years-long campaign by some neighbors to rescue the decaying edifice, demolition of a closed 19th-century church in Philadelphia has begun.
Scaffolding, fencing, and barricades surrounding the 140-year-old St. Laurentius Church in the Fishtown district last week. Neighbors came Wednesday to take one last look, taking photos and pointing to the massive cross that had formerly been connected to the building and now lay against a fence, according to KYW.
I don’t want to see a church fall down, regardless of denomination, Margaret Ann Ramsey told KYW. It’s always been a part of the region, so it’s unfortunate, especially for the parishioners.
According to Michael Johnson of HC Site Construction, the 150-foot spires are being dismantled by hand, with rubble being dropped via chutes to the basement to reduce vibrations from truck traffic.
The city’s licensing and inspections department approved a demolition permit about a year ago, but authorities claimed moving utility poles and wires that surrounded the site took longer than planned. Crews were reportedly ordered to wait until summer because of lessons at a nearby Catholic school, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
St. Laurentius is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Philadelphia Historical Commission has ordered that the church’s front face be preserved or rebuilt in any new building. The publication said that an appeal has been filed against a zoning permit for a proposed eight-story 49-unit multifamily residential project.
The church was erected in 1882 because to the generosity of Polish immigrants. The archdiocese of Philadelphia declared its closure in 2014, citing vertical fissures and a heavily damaged exterior that feared collapse if a $3.5 million rehabilitation was not completed. According to supporters, their estimations totalled barely $700,000. In 2015, the historical commission added the church to the city’s historic registry.
Concerns were raised in 2019 when portions of the facade disintegrated, with 6,000 pounds (2,720 kilograms) of granite breaking off a spire, puncturing steel scaffolding, and falling into a gated safety zone around the church, forcing the adjoining school to close for two days.
The archbishop paid $135,000 to stabilize the structure, and municipal inspectors thought it looked better, but two engineers engaged by the new owner subsequently found that St. Laurentius had degenerated significantly, with one forecasting at least partial collapse within a decade. According to a structural expert hired by the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, the structure has stayed standing despite catastrophic predictions from several engineers.
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