Permits issued to tear down historic Baptist church
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. » A demolition permit for the historic Clifton Park Baptist Church has been issued to a local company putting the 181-year- old meeting house closer to its demise.
The permit to demolish the church at 713 Clifton Park Center Road was issued last month to Jackson Demolition by the town Building and Zoning Department. Director Steve Myers informed the Clifton Park Historic Preservation Commission later that day as had been requested.
According to town code, the Preservation Commission has 30 days to request and be given access to any historic structure under threat of demolition so the interior can be photographed and documented. The Commission can also ask the owner to donate certain items for preservation purposes.
The church was established in the community by Abijah Peck in 1794. His grave is directly behind the building in the church cemetery. The Greek Revivalstyle brick meeting house that was built in 1837 replaced the original church. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. Though it saw many weddings and baptisms through the years, the congregation built a new structure next door and has not used the old meeting house since 1990.
Rumors have been rampant for the past few years that the congregation wanted to demolish the building because of safety concerns and the cost of restoration.
In an email response to a number of questions posed to the congregation last fall about the building, pastor Greg Staples said the cost of repairing the building was estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and the congregation did not have that kind of money.
Staples said efforts to find financial help only found offers requiring matching grants for amounts that were beyond the congregation’s means.
The congregation did not respond to a request to comment for this story.
A feeling of disappointment and loss has set in among preservationists, Peck family members, and local residents who appreciate what older buildings bring to the greater community.
Clifton Park Town historian John Scherer said the Preservation Commission went “above and beyond” to help the congregation preserve the building offering many practical solutions, any of which, he said could have been attainable.
“The church was never interested in solutions,” he said. “Their goal was always to demolish the building and they simply stuck to their guns. Unfortunately there was no regard as to the value of the building as a historic resource. The church’s victory is a great loss for the Clifton Park community.”
Scherer said organizations like Sacred Sites Trust of the New York Landmarks Conservancy would have helped with restoration funding but when told about the grants, the church congregation said it did not have the funds for a match- ing grant.
“But there is no match needed with Sacred Sites Trust,” Scherer said. “They could have sold it to the (Jonne and Paul) Coons or
made an adaptive use of it but they spurned all efforts to find a way. If they had asked for support for a restoration effort from the community they’d have got support.”
Joanne Coons sees the loss of the building as another tear in the historic fabric of the community.
“Our town has lost many important building and barns that helped identify who we are and where we came from and the loss of the beloved Baptist Church Meeting House, a town and nationally recognized historic landmark, is a tragedy of the commons,” she said.
The town’s elected offi-
cials are in a difficult position. With nothing in the code preventing the demolition, private property rights must be honored. However, several noted that the loss of the building will be felt.
Town Clerk Pat O’Donnell has lived in the town 50 years and agreed with Coons the demolition will affect the community in ways far beyond the removal of an old structure.
“It is definitely lessening the historic character of the town by demolishing that church,” she said.
Town Supervisor Philip Barrett noted the efforts made to help the congregation with the situation.
”Over the course of years the town has offered support or assistance in the rehabilitation or preservation of the
building,” he said in anemail. “Similarly there have been private parties interested as well. Ultimately the building is private property.”
Town Councilman James Whalen, the board’s liaison to the Historic Preservation Commission, expressed similar thoughts. “It’s disappointing to see a local historic building be lost to history,” he said in an email. “However, the town and the Historic Preservation Commission worked diligently and in good faith to attempt to provide options to stabilize and restore the building. Ultimately the property owner decided on a different course of action. I appreciate the efforts of the Commission members for continuing to preserve Clifton Park’s history.”