Update on St. Luke’s Tower and School Expansion Proposal
Last week several dozen people attended the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing on a proposal by St. Luke’s to construct a 153 ft. tall tower on a parking lot at Greenwich and Barrow Streets on the southwest corner of their block in the Greenwich Village Historic District, and to build additions atop their school buildings along Greenwich Street (view the application and details here and here). Both proposals would be very visible from within and beyond the St. Luke’s block and gardens – one of the most special places within the Greenwich Village Historic District. Because the sites are located within the Greenwich Village Historic District, any such changes require the approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission through a public hearing process.
GVSHP had some very serious concerns about the proposal, which we felt did not relate well to its surroundings, the rest of the St. Luke’s block, and the Greenwich Village Historic District. GVSHP called for the LPC to require a rethinking of the proposal, and to ask St. Luke’s to come up with a real master plan that would allow the church and school to grow in a harmonious way with the rest of the St. Luke’s campus and the surrounding historic district – read our testimony here. Dozens of people spoke at the hearing last week, the majority of whom opposed the current plan.
After several hours of public testimony, the Commission closed the hearing, and will reconvene at a later date (TBD) for a “public meeting” at which they will discuss the application and possibly vote, but no additional public testimony will be given. If you are interested in the scheduling of that public meeting, or in updates about the status of this application, check our webpage on this application here and here, or sign up for update notifications here. See other upcoming, pending, and closed landmarks applications on GVSHP’s Landmarks Applications Webpage here.
Next: 03/10/14
Previous: 01/30/14
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