The Battle of St. Bart's, Used [Hardcover]

From Publishers Weekly Architectural specialist Brolin (The Failure of Modern Architecture, etc.) has a meaty tale to tell, and no matter that he is late off the mark hitting his stride, not clarifying soon enough the complex, ongoing controversy surrounding a Manhattan real estate scheme that has pitted preservationists against church, church against state, parishioners against clergy. At issue is the "development" of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, a landmark neo-Byzantine structure that provides a grace note to commercial midtown Park Avenue. Although Vanderbilts no longer live in the neighborhood, the church draws affluent, regular worshippers from around the boroughs; and although St. Bart's actively ministers to the indigentall programs are either self- or city-financed, according to Brolinan endowment of $11 million makes this no slum parish. The book is effective advocacy journalism, showing us the personalities of those involved in this squalid affair: St. Bart rector Rev. Thomas Dix Bowers, spearhead of the development plan, who is quoted as calling the landmarks commission which rejected the church's three appeals to incorporate onto St. Bart's a 49-story office-rental tower "bimbos and dummies"; members of the former vestry and its new composition following resignations over the scheme; parishioners and other concerned citizens on the Committee to Oppose; lawyers, accountants. The case is now in the federal courts, and should St. Bart's be allowed to "slip the shackles of landmarking," other churches across the country, direly predicts the author, will also be lured by the "relatively easy money" in real estate speculation. Photos not seen by PW. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Battle of St. Bart's, Used [Hardcover]