planning for the reuse of cambria city churches johnstown ...johnstown, pennsylvania november 18-20,...
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Planning for the Reuse of Cambria City Churches
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
November 18-20, 2010
Partners for Sacred Places
Why Should We Sustain Historic
Sacred Places?• Older churches, synagogues and
meetinghouses anchor ourstreetscapes, mark our skylines andoffer the best artistry andarchitecture in our neighborhoods
• Research data shows that urbanchurches open their buildings toserve people in need, oftensacrificially
• Churches stabilize neighborhoods,increasing housing values anddecreasing vacancies
Twenty Years Ago:
National Advocate & Resource
Center Needed
• Partners for Sacred Places was founded as the only
national, non-profit, nonsectarian organization
devoted to preserving America’s historic religious
properties and strengthening the communities
they serve
• Serves as a bridge between faith community and
historic preservation
• Utilizes the Pennsylvania region as a laboratory
for new outreach and programs
Programs and Services
• Information
Clearinghouse
• Publications
• New Dollars/New
Partners Training in
40 cities/states
• Regional Programs in
Pennsylvania, Illinois
and Texas
St. Ambrose parish, Chicago
Research:
Sacred Places at Risk
• National attention for
research in six cities on the
“public value” of religious
properties
• The project is the first
unbiased look at how
congregations share space
for community services
More Sacred Places at Risk
• 93% of urban congregations open
their doors to serve outside
members of the community
• Each congregation provides, on
average, 5,300 hours of volunteer
service annually
• Value of space and resources put
into programs is over $140,000 per
congregation
• 76% of all services provided are
located within a congregation’s
own building
Church Closings
• Many denominations are faced with closing
churches as congregations shrink and resources are
scarce
• Civic leaders often desire that closed sacred places
remain assets in the community
• More creative solutions to adapting sacred places to
new uses are being created throughout the country.
• This process is often a challenge but can catalyze
civic pride, economic and cultural development
• Roman CatholicBishop Gumbletonworks with Partners inwake of Detroitclosings
• Design charrettebrings new ideas foruse of closed orreconfigured buildings
Early Experiences:
Sacred Places in Transition
Why Sustain Cambria City’s
Sacred Places• Immaculate Conception, St.
Columba, Ss Casmir andEmerich are communityassets because of the historythey embody, theirarchitecture, the way theyanchor the neighborhood, andthe promise they hold for newuse.
• It is possible to develop new,sustainable uses for all threeproperties.
How Did This Project Evolve?
• In 2009, five churches in the Cambria City
neighborhood of Johnstown – Immaculate
Conception (German), St. Columba (Irish), Ss.
Casimir & Emerich (Polish/Hungarian), St.
Rochus (Croatian) and St. Stephen’s (Slovak) –
were closed, and their parishes merged.
• The new parish, which was renamed Resurrection,
meets in the former St. Stephen’s church building.
The St. Rochus church building serves the new
parish as a chapel.
How Did This Project Evolve?
• Partners for Sacred Places was retained with
funding raised through Save Our Steeples and
the Johnstown Regional Partnership to help
lead the a planning process, together with
the!EADS Group.
• Many meetings and conversation have been
held with community leaders. From these
conversations, a steering committee was
formed to help guide the the planning process.
Steering Committee• Monsignor Raymond Balta, St.
Mary’s Byzantine Church
• Richard Burkert, Johnstown Area
Heritage Association
• Brad Clemenson, Pennsylvania
Environmental Council
• Kristen Denne, City Manager of
Johnstown
• Rose Howarth, Save Our Steeples,
Johnstown City Council
• Frank Janakovic, ARCP, Johnstown
City Council
• Shelley Johansson, Johnstown Area
Heritage Association
• Mike Kane, Community Foundation
for the Alleghenies
• Marie Mock, Save Our Steeples,
Johnstown City Council
• Adam Mundok, Venue of Merging
Arts
• Jim Penna, district director, Rep.
Mark Critz
• Ben Policicchio, Conemaugh Health
System
• John Springer, architect, UpStreet
Architects
• Fr. Alan Thomas, Resurrection Parish
• Rick Truscello, EADS Group
• Rich Uzelac, Bottleworks Ethnic Arts
Center
• Barbara Zaborowski, Save Our
Steeples, Penn Highlands Community
College
Design Charrette
• A design charrette is
an intensive, hands-on
workshop that brings
citizens, community
leaders, and designers
together to build a new
or alternative vision
for a building or place
through a creative,
collaborative process.
• The charrette team will
consider other successful
adaptive use projects and
consider the particular
attributes of Cambria
City and of each church
when developing
preliminary design
concepts for the
churches.
Architects and Planners
• Carmine Carapella of
Pittsburgh, PA
• Clive Copping of
TranSystems in
Philadelphia, PA
• Ryan Kolar Architecture,
Chicago
• Ola Johansson, of
University of Pittsburgh-
Johnstown
•David O. Lose of Loseand Associates,Nashville, TN
•Ben Policiccio ofMemorial Medical Centerin Johnstown
•John Springer ofUpstreet architects inIndiana, PA
•Fred Watts of Celli-Flynn Brennan Architects& Planners of Pittsburgh
Guiding Principles
• We are not advocating for a particular reuse
option for any site, but managing a process
where options are rigorously explored with
significant community input.
• We recognize the real challenges involved but
will focus on the positive and the possible.
• The ideas and plans that evolve from this
process will focus on the practical and doable
Guiding Principles
• We want to connect with larger planninginitiatives, economic goals for Johnstown as awhole.
• Many people in Johnstown have a strong interestin the fate of these churches. This process willinvolve a variety of stakeholders.
• We want to build upon and support the varietyof positive developments in the neighborhood,including those instituted by businesses, newand long-time non-profits, the faith community,and long-time and new residents.
Johnstown
and
Cambria City
- Small neighborhood: 3 x 10
blocks
- Major streets: Broad Street
and Chestnut Street
- Mixed land use: residential,
commercial, cultural
institutions
Cambria City• Urban design
– Most buildings constructed
between 1890 and 1920
– Majority of original buildings
were destroyed during the first
Johnstown Flood in 1889
– Working-class vernacular
wood-frame buildings
– Wall-to-wall and façade
against the street
A National Historic District on
the National Register of
Historic Places
Typical streetscape: Chestnut Street
Cambria City Culture and
Heritage
• Artworks
• Bottle Works Ethnic Art Center
• Heritage Discovery Center
• Children’s Museum
• Venue for Merging Arts
• Jazz Concerts
• Ethnic Festival
Church Overview Multiple churches were constructed to serve disparate immigrant groups.
Each of the churches reflect the congregation’s ethnic heritage and the
history of the parish.
Immaculate Conception, Ss. Casimir & Emerich, St
Columba (from left to right)
Immaculate Conception
•Location: Broad St. & 3rd
Avenue
•Served German residents of
Cambria City
•Construction on current
church was completed in
1908
• Following 1983 fire, the
church underwent major
renovations
Immaculate Conception
• Victorian Gothic Revival church designed by William P. Ginther
of Ohio
• Side-steeple church with belfry and spire
• Exterior combines yellow brick walls and brownstone trim
• Tripartite entry portal
St. Columba
• Constructed in
1913-1914
• Served English-
speaking Irish
immigrants of
Cambria City
Architectural Characteristics: St. Columba
• Lombard Romanesque
style building
• Designed by Pittsburgh
architect John T. Comes
• Built entirely of brick and
includes brick and stone
decorations
• Four stories tower with a
square base and octagonal
top
• Unique altar mural,
incorporating themes from
the war-ridden world of
1919
Ss. Casimir & Emerich• Situated on Power
Street facing
Conemaugh River
•Built in 1902-1907
•First served the Polish
residents of Cambria
City
•Originally called St.
Casimir, but the
congregation merged
with the Hungarian St.
Emerich parish in 1990
Ss. Casimir & Emerich• Large Romanesque style building designed by local architect
Walter Myton
• Design is characterized by stone exterior
• Two three-story belfry towers, both to the left and right of the
main entrance
• Includes a basement
Re-imagining Sacred Places
• Sacred places have enormous potential for
reuse. These new uses can be grouped as
follows:
1. Arts
2. Institutional use
3. Business and Residential
Cultural Adaptive Reuse
Possible uses: Theaters, Music Venues, Libraries,
Ethnic Heritage Centers, Multi-purpose Venues
Sacred Heart Cultural Center
• Sacred Heart Church
• Augusta, GA
• Reuse date: 1987
• With investment of $2.6
million, church houses
choral concerts, exhibits,
holiday events and the
offices of art groups after
being vacant for 16 years.
• Seven arts groups uses the
rectory for office space
Iron Gate Theater
• Tabernacle United
Church
• Philadelphia, PA
• A registered historic
landmark.
• Houses a
theater/auditorium,
rehearsal rooms,
congregations.
Maine Irish Heritage Center
• St. Dominic’s RomanCatholic Church
• Portland, ME
• Reuse Date 2002-04
• Coalition of communitymembers organized tosave the building.
• Houses library, genealogycenter, performance,community and meetingspace.
McColl Center of Visual Art
• Associate Reformed
Presbyterian Church
• Charlotte, NC
• Reuse Date: 1998/9
• Church burned and amidst
worsening downtown
blight, a Bank of America
executive transformed the
church into a 34,000 sq. ft.
studio and gallery space.
Villa Victoria Center for the Arts
• Boston, MA
• Reuse Date: 1986
• Latin American Arts
heritage space offering
450-person capacity
for performances,
exhibits, classes.
Fremont Abbey Arts Center
• St. Paul’s LutheranChurch
• Seattle, WA
• Reuse Date: 2006
• Century-old churchrenovated as an artseducation andperformance center bylocal non-profit.
Library
• Maastricht,
Netherlands
• Reuse Date: 2007
• Architects awarded for
a steel, two story
library and altar-to-
reading area
conversion.
Educational and Social ServicePossible Uses: schools; day care; counseling
and treatment centers, offices.
King Center Charter School
• St. Mary of SorrowsCatholic Church
• Buffalo, NY
• Renovation Date: 1986-96
• New charter school,community center, library,offices and pregnancyprevention/healtheducation center arestabilizing components inthe community.
Centro Familiar Guadalupano
• St Vitus Catholic Church
• Chicago, IL
• Reuse Date: 1992-96
• Community task force andinterfaith groups startedinitiative.
• Day care and after schoolprograms of 200+ childrenas well as nonprofit officesare housed in 4,500 sq. ft.renovated space.
Commercial
Possible uses: restaurants, doctors and dentist
offices, night clubs, gyms
Corporate Headquarters
• Church of the NewJerusalem
• Philadelphia, PA
• Reuse date: 1989
• Congregation workedclosely with buyer andPreservation Pennsylvaniato develop a protectivecovenant and devise aninterior office designsensitive to historic fabric.
The Church Brew Works
• St. John the BaptistChurch
• Lawrenceville, PA
• Developer workedwith representatives ofthe diocese to workout an acceptable priceand usage: brewingand serving drinks,serving food.
The Verdin Company
• Cincinnati, OH
• Reuse Date: 1981-3
• The oldest
clockmaking company
in the country
renovated the space
for $1.5 million over 2
years for a corporate
HQ and event space.http://www.belleventcentre.com/asp/index.asp
Undercover Rock
• St. Werburgh’s
Church
• Bristol, UK
• Church’s walls,
pillars, fins, overhangs
and arches provide
unique climbing
atmosphere.http://www.tryclimbing.co.uk/2010/06/alter-rock-derbys-indoor-
climbing-wall/
Church Court Condominiums
• Mount Vernon Church
• Boston, MA
• New building makes
reference to the historic
church, utilizing the walls
that stood standing after a
fire.
• Entire structure contains
over 40 condominiums
and townhouses.
Charrette Process
• Friday, November 19
– 8:00 Church Tour
– 9:00 to 12:00 Public
design sessions
– 12:00-1:00 Lunch
– 1:00 -7:00 Architects
design
• Saturday, November 20
– 8:00- 1:00 Architects
continue design work
– 1:00 Public presentation
of preliminary design
concepts
Location: Bottle Works, 411 Third Avenue
What’s Next
Thank You
• The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown &
Resurrection parish
• Johnstown Area Heritage Association
• Save Our Steeples
• Johnstown Regional Partnership
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