St. Saviour’s Saved
St. Saviour’s Saved
St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, Maspeth, Queens
St. Saviour’s Saved
Until layers of vinyl and asphalt shingle siding were removed, it was difficult to see St. Saviour’s Gothic “bones.”(photo credit: http://www.forgotten-ny.com/)
St. Saviour’s Saved
Unfortunately, narrow street widths and overhead bridges and utilities precluded moving the church to its new site without first dismantling it.(photo credit: John Santerre)
St. Saviour’s Saved
The monumental trusses are removed with a crane.(photo credit: Kaitsen Woo)
This spring, The New York Landmarks Conservancy worked with the Juniper Park Civic Association and preservation advocate Christabel Gough to rescue the former St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, a rare carpenter Gothic survivor in Maspeth, Queens. Two years ago, the congregation sold the church to a developer, and the Juniper Park Civic Association led efforts to rescue the church, which occupied a wooded hill covering a full city block. At the 11th hour, the developer agreed to allow the group to fund the careful dismantling and removal of the church. The Conservancy funded the services of preservation architect Kaitsen Woo and master carpenter Russell Powell of Island Housewrights to oversee the precise measuring, drawing, labeling, and careful dismantling and storage of the building at a new site provided by nearby All Faiths Cemetery.
In June 2009, substantial NYC Fiscal 2010 Capital Funding was allocated for the reconstruction of the former church, $1.45 million via Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, and an additional $500,000 via City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley. To be reconstructed in phases, the re-erected building will serve as a community education, cultural and performance center. The building will be reassembled in unused property owned by All Faiths Cemetery on 69th Street and Juniper Valley Road.
An exhibit documenting the former St. Saviour’s Church was on display at Queens Borough Hall. For a link to the exhibit images from the website of project architect Kaitsen Woo, click here.
Stay tuned – A film of the disassembly of this remarkable survivor will be posted soon.
