Nothing new seen in report

The engineering firm of Klepper, Hahn and Hyatt prepared the structural engineer's report, funded by a grant from the Landmarks Conservancy to the Historic Albany Foundation.

The circa-1860 St. Joseph's Church was closed in 1994 when the parish merged with Sacred Heart parish in Albany. The church has since been fenced in to protect pedestrians from debris falling from its crumbling facade.

While the Landmarks Conservancy, which attempts to save historic religious buildings around the state, claims that the new report has revealed St. Joseph's "can be saved for the same cost as demolition," diocesan Real Property director Noel Olsen said this is incorrect.

"The report basically said it will take $500,000 to stabilize the church -- not doing any repairs," he explained. "The people in the historic society indicated that was all that was needed to restore the building. That was not true."

In fact, Mr. Olsen said, it would take about $200,000 to demolish the church, but $2 million to $3 million to renovate it and convert it for another use.

However, he stressed that the Diocese has no plans either to tear down St. Joseph's or to renovate it. The Diocese will simply stabilize the building as it seeks a buyer for it.

To that end, he noted that brochures describing the church were printed and distributed all over the country. So far, there have been no bidders for St. Joseph's, but "we're still looking."

Mr. Olsen told The Evangelist that the new study of St. Joseph's simply reiterated previous estimates of the cost of stabilizing the building but did not provide any new information. He said that the Historic Albany Foundation requested the structural engineer's report because "that was what they wanted to do."

The Diocese would still like to see St. Joseph's Church put to good use. "We're hoping someone will step forward," Mr. Olsen stated. If bidders for the church appear, he said, the Diocese will be happy to work with them, "because it's a historic landmark."

(08-19-99) [[In-content Ad]]