CPOA Opposes Demolition

Printed By Request:

Honorable Mayor

Robert Rothschild

Incorporated Village

of Garden City

Dear Sirs:

At its Board of Directors Meeting on September 14, 2010 the Central Garden City Property Owners Association (CPOA) resolved that it reaffirms its opposition to the proposed demolition of the main structure of St. Paul’s School in Garden City.

The CPOA Board agrees with the statement in the “Draft Environmental Impact Statement” (DEIS) that “The proposed project (demolition) would have a significant impact on that component of community character relating to aesthetic and historic resources because it would cause the loss of the historic main building, deemed by some to be an iconic structure within the center of the Village.”

Moreover, the CPOA Board agrees that the demolition of St. Paul’s main structure will ultimately diminish the pride in the Village shared by residents, negatively impact the quality of life in the Village, and reduce property values of all residences in the Village.

The DEIS further suggests that the Village consider all alternative uses of the St. Paul’s main building before resorting to demolition. Accordingly, the CPOA urges you to work in earnest to save the building and to cooperate with Village residents to preserve St. Paul’s for the use by Village residents.

Very truly yours,

Gary Kahn, President,

Central Property

Owners’ Association

Faulty Facts To

Fit Agenda?

To the Editor:

I am writing to dispute the 5th paragraph on page two of last weeks article by the Eastern Property Owners Association.

They state, “Reclamation of the main building was not on the agenda”. This is completely false and inaccurate.

 Here are the facts as reported at the time:

 1/8/93 – Garden City News – “From the Mayor’s Office” – Brian Deveney

“Purchase price $7.25 million plus $1.25 million for initial repairs. Efforts continue in the organization of a committee to study the most beneficial and cost effective uses for the campus buildings.”

1/13/93 – Newsday – “Garden City Working On School Use”

“The Village of Garden City will likely be using St. Paul’s as a recreation and cultural center, according to the Mayor. He also said that the Village was not interested in selling the property to another group, including those that had bid against us.”

1/24/93 – New York Times – “Garden City To Vote On Buying Land”

“Mayor Brian Deveney said uses for the building might include more space for the Village Hall, a larger library or community facility. I think people will look back at this as an extremely historic event in which a Village could get together and vote to preserve 50 acres of land and historic property. One of the motivating things behind the acquisition is to prevent a repeat scenario of what happened to the Garden City Hotel. They realize what a “Jewel” St. Paul’s is.”

2/3/93 – Newsday – “School Purchase OK’d By Voters”

“Village officials have said that the only uses being considered for the campus were municipal.”

2/4/93 – Newsday – “Village Mulls Uses for St. Paul’s Parcel”

“Garden City residents voted 2726 to 364 to spend $8.5 million to acquire St. Paul’s. Village officials have said they are considering using the main school as a municipal center. The Episcopal Church will receive $7.25 million from the sale and the balance of the money will be used to repair the roof and masonry and to remove oil tanks and asbestos.”

If you are repairing roofs and removing asbestos, seems pretty clear to me that they were planning on using the building.

 Robert Reid

Partial Demolition?

To the Editor:

I would like to start by thanking the Garden City Village Board for patiently exploring the many options for the use of the Saint Paul’s main building. Although this has taken years, the Board has carefully reviewed these options and unfortunately been unable to find a use that seems economically viable. The Board is now at another decision point – should we proceed with demolition.

At the same time, the Save St. Paul’s Committee has also been working very hard to come up with a proposal that would preserve the building. This Committee has a significant amount of support in the Village. The Committee has been able to raise money for expert advice on how the building can be saved. The Committee continues to be the voice of a large number of residents who do not want the building to be demolished. I applaud this effort as well.

However, at this time, I do not support the current direction of either the Village Board or the Save St. Paul’s Committee. The two groups represent an all or nothing alternative. I, again, propose a partial alternative—demolish the east and west wings which will reduce the square footage of the building by about half. Although this proposal has been presented a number of times to both the Village Board and the Save St Paul’s Committee, neither has embraced it.

The Board has rejected saving the building for public use because the significant cost of restoration and the fact that no acceptable public use has been identified for the building’s significant size. Additionally, Village residents have rejected the one recent private use alternative offered by the Board.

The current proposal by the St. Paul’s Committee would restore only the first floor and the chapel in the center of the St. Paul’s main building for a cost of $8 million. That is about 1/3 of the entire building. Therefore, 2/3rds of the building would be mothballed. Although the proposal would transfer the building ownership to a newly established conservancy, I see no way to get the tens of millions in additional funds from public or private foundations to fund the cost of future renovation of the remaining 2/3rds of the building. The Committee has not identified any future use of the remaining square footage. At a point in the future, I believe Village residents will asked to provide funding either to renovate part of the building for a specific public purpose or to demolish part of the building because of continued deterioration of the unused portions.

Let’s truly consider taking down the wings. Having no wings has a number of benefits to the community. It eliminates the need for a very high cost restoration of about one half of the total building space. It leaves entire structure facing Stewart Ave, as an historic landmark. And if we accept the Save St Paul’s Committee idea to establish the building as a conservancy, it makes their long term task of complete restoration more feasible. Having no wings also provides more ground space on the St. Paul’s campus which could solve most of the parking issues.

I have no idea what the current cost would be to demolish the two wings. I do not know how much resident support there is for this option. The public has never been polled on this idea. This concept is a middle ground. Everyone wins if the Village residents accept the total cost of partial restoration and partial demolition.

Jonathan Schwieger

Save St. Paul’s

Printed By Request:

Mayor Robert Rothschild

Village of Garden City

Dear Mr. Rothschild:

The loss of St. Paul’s would be a devastating blow to our community’s rich history. The fact of the matter is, the majority of the residents of the village did not vote in favor of demolition. Of the three options on the ballot of the 2008 public opinion vote, the results were as follows: option one, demolition = 2,272 votes; option two, saving the exterior = 1,857 votes; and option three, converting the building into condos = 873 votes. When added together, options two and three obtained the majority with 2,730 votes; the village voted to save St. Paul’s.

If for nothing else, we should have the respect to honor the founder of our beautiful village. As the mayor, I would hope that you are familiar with our village’s history. Cornelia Stewart erected the Cathedral of the Incarnation, St. Paul’s School for Boys and St. Mary’s School for Girls in remembrance of her husband, Alexander Turney Stewart. Having no children or heirs, these structures were erected to memorialize one of the most powerful and well respected men of his time. With the loss of St. Mary’s and the impending demolition of St. Paul’s, not only are we destroying beautiful structures, we are destroying a piece of our heritage and Mr. Stewart’s legacy.

As a life long resident of the community, for me, the grandiose structure that is St. Paul’s is a symbol of our community. It embodies the foundations on which the community was built, but it also represents the apparent failure for our village’s government to take action. For an issue that has plagued the Board of Trustees since 1993, I cannot even begin to fathom the resources that have been wasted on this debate.

And while a decision on a topic that evokes such opinions and feelings should not be made impetuously, it seems as though the time has come for a decision to be made. By the end of the month, the fate of St. Paul’s will be sealed. I can only hope that future generations of Garden City residents can appreciate such an amazing building. Thank you for your time.

Gregory Cavaluzzo

‘A Feeling Of Profound Sadness’ 

To the Editor:

That is what I felt when a friend recently called to tell me that a book store that we both have patronized for years, had suddenly closed. On the window, a large sign simply read: ‘Out of Business’. This closing follows the recent demise of the huge Barnes & Noble bookstore opposite Lincoln Center and rumors abound of the imminent closing of other large and well known bookstores. Last month, the Managing Director of The Oxford University Press openly stated the possibility that the Oxford English Dictionary third edition might be published in electronic format only. While in London, a couple of weeks ago, Arthur Sulzberger, Chairman and publisher of The New York Times caused a stir by openly stating that ‘eventually’, his newspaper may cease printing in the present format and use E-Bay-Internet instead. Also, Borders reported a larger quarterly loss with fewer shoppers visiting its stores and more, shopping on line. Personally, I consider and view these actions and comments as the beginning of a literary nightmare, the end of an era. As an avid reader and writer, I feel deeply sad with the possible outcome. Yes, I readily admit that I am nuts about holding in my hands a book in printed form, hard cover, and a newspaper while riding the train, airplane, seated at the beach or simply on my living room recliner. For those defending E-Bay, electronic reading, I wish good luck when the power goes off or an unwelcome guest by the name ‘virus’ takes possession of their PC. I just hope that I will not see the day when I am unable to buy my favorite newspaper and book at the stationery and bookstore. Should that happen, it would be a real tragedy to me and countless others. 

Antonio Moreno

Thanks For Help

To the Editor: 

Just a shout out to the Garden City Fire Department to thank them for the help with my flag pole the other day.

Another job well done by a great organization. 

Jim Donoghue