Saint Laurentius Church is the oldest Polish Catholic church in Philadelphia, having been built at 1608 E. Berks St. in 1882. Not only was the church a religious site, but it was also an architectural landmark, with its stone facade and gothic spires. The Archdiocese closed the Saint Laurentius parish in 2013, a step we've seen taken at many parishes in Philadelphia in the last decade, due in part to declining church attendance and increasing costs. The plan, at the time, was to maintain the church as a worship site for major events. But the very next year, the City determined that the church was structurally unsound and in 2015 the Archdiocese was planning to demolish the building. A Friends of Saint Laurentius group mobilized in an effort to save the building, which led to a Historical Commission designation last summer.
The historical designation created a significant roadblock for the planned demolition, so the Archdiocese agreed to explore the possibility of selling the building to a developer that would reuse the former church. This past February, according to Plan Philly, developer Leo Voloshin signed an agreement of sale with the Archdiocese which included a zoning contingency. The church is zoned for single-family use, so any apartment conversion will require input from the community and a variance from the ZBA. Yesterday, we recieved an email announcing a Fishtown Neighbors Association zoning meeting next month at which Voloshin will present plans to convert the former Saint Laurentius building into a 23-unit apartment building. It's important to note that the rectory and the school next door are not part of the application.
Most would consider this a positive step, but the future of the building remains an open question. There are surely people in the area that don't care about the preservation of the building and will object to the project because of high density and no parking. Then there are others that want to preserve the building and believe there's still a possibility of religious reuse, and will therefore oppose the residential conversion. If either group makes a compelling case to the ZBA and the developer can't get a variance, the sale could fall through and the Archdiocese could possibly proceed with demolition efforts.
We're optimistic that the people who have worked for the last few years to protect the church will push hard for opponents to support this project, but there are never any guarantees in the zoning process. It's a wonderful building that adds to the architectural diversity of the community, and a multi-unit building this close to Frankford Avenue makes all kinds of sense. So we'd like to see it happen but we don't live nearby. To get a grasp of what the neighbors want, you'll have to come to the community meeting on September 20th. See you there?