Brooklyn Churches Get $90K in Preservation Grants

By Adam Daly, Brooklyn Paper

Preservationists have answered the prayers of three Brooklyn churches, blessing them with a combined $90,000 in grants to carry out necessary repairs at the aging houses of worship.

St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church in Sunset Park, Flatbush-Tompkins Congregational Church in Ditmas Park, and Holy Family-St.Thomas Aquinas in Park Slope were among the 15 historic religious properties throughout New York State awarded a Scared Site Grant by the New York Landmarks Conservancy Committee last week.

The leader of the New York Landmarks Conservancy announced the recipients of the Sacred Sites Program on October 18. The program provides congregations with matching grants for planning and implementing exterior restoration projects.

“Our grants support the preservation of these landmark buildings, which are important anchors for their members and their communities,” said Peg Breen, president of the New York Landmarks Conservancy. “These 15 congregations reach almost 140,000 people in their areas with programs that address food insecurity, addiction, and social isolation, and serve as venues for important arts and cultural activities.”

Flatbush-Tompkins Congregational Church, a neo-Georgian building in Ditmas Park, was awarded $45,000 to repair masonry and roof flashing. The conservancy called the building, located on East 19th Street and Dorchester Road, “the finest Colonial Revival style church in New York City.”

In Sunset Park, St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church, built in 1905, will use its $30,000 grant for roof, parapet, and gutter repairs. The Romanesque Revival-style church on 42nd Street and 4th Avenue, designed by architect Raymond F. Almirall, was briefly the second tallest building in Brooklyn, after the Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower.

Meanwhile, Holy Family-St. Thomas Aquinas in Park Slope, built in 1885 and designed by J. William Schickel, received $15,000 for masonry, window restoration, and gutter repairs to the house of worship on 9th Street and 4th Avenue.

Founded in 1973, the Landmarks Conservancy has provided more than $14.2 million to more than 850 religious institutions statewide since starting the Sacred Sites Program in 1986. This year, it awarded $321,000 to 15 religious properties through its Sacred Sites program.

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

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