Exploring Interfaith Bringing People and Places Together
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COMMON VolumeBOND 30, Number 1, Summer 2020 10thANNIVERSARY ISSUE Celebrating All Faiths: A Decade of Sacred Sites Open House Visit Sites Program nylandmarks.org A Sacred Exploring Interfaith Bringing people and places together Inside: Preservation Partnerships | Worship during COVID-19 | Restoration of Hope | Moslem Mosque | Preservation in Québec | Diverse Restorations | Fire Protection | Accessibility| 2019 Grants Common Bond is the technical From the President journal of the Sacred Sites Program of the NY Landmarks Conservancy. The New York Landmarks Dear Friends, Conservancy’s Sacred Sites Program offers congregations TABLE OF CONTENTS We hope you are safe and well and throughout New York State adjusting to our new reality. We financial and technical assistance understand what a difficult time this to maintain, repair, and restore their is for congregations. Our annual buildings. In addition to providing 02 The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, Inc. – A Sacred Sites Open House is an op- hundreds of thousands of dollars Funding Partnership for Long Island’s Sacred Sites portunity to let your communities in matching grants each year, the By Mari S. Gold know about your history and your Conservancy offers technical help, social service and cultural programs. workshops for building caretakers, Because of the current circumstanc- and publications. 10 Worship in the time of COVID-19: es, this year’s Open House, our 10th Anniversary, will take place virtually, Editor: Ann-Isabel Friedman How Some NY Congregations are Responding throughout the month of August, Contributors: Mari S. Gold, Claire By Mari S. Gold allowing us to share New York’s extraordinary houses of worship with Cancilla, Chris Marrion, Emily Sottile, a global audience. Please feel free to contact us at sacredsites@ Michael Doyle & Andy Liu. nylandmarks.org if you have any questions. Design: Travis Matts 14 Restoration Sends a Message of Hope to a Community Conservancy staff are adjusting too. Working from our homes, we are Back issues are available in print continuing to help people and institutions who depend on our grants, and online at By Mari S. Gold loans, preservation services, and advocacy. Our Sacred Sites pro- www.nylandmarks.org, Common gram is dedicated to the preservation of historic religious architecture Bond page. 20 One of America’s Oldest Mosques - Moslem Mosque throughout New York State. We are one of a handful of programs in the country offering financial help to religious properties and the only For additional information about By Claire Cancilla program covering an entire state. the Sacred Sites Program or Common Bond, please contact Our Sacred Sites Committee met in April via Zoom and approved 21 Ann Friedman at 26 Kindred Open Houses - A Similar Sacred Sites Open grants totaling $337,000 to institutions across the state. The grants will [email protected] House Program in Canada help fix stained glass windows, replace leaky roofs, restore steeples, By Mari S. Gold repoint masonry, and shore up sagging foundations. Since 1986, Sacred Sites has awarded 1,547 grants totaling over $11.8 The New York 32 Celebrating All Faiths: million, helping restore 824 religious buildings, regardless of denom- ination. Our grants have had an outsized impact, helping historic Landmarks Conservancy Highlighting Diverse Restorations for NYC Sacred Sites One Whitehall Street religious properties complete restoration work totaling more than $716 By EverGreene Architectural Arts New York, NY 10004 million. Maintaining and restoring these facilities has enabled them to 212.995.5260 continue to serve their communities with day care, senior program- www.nylandmarks.org ming, food pantries, and cultural programming. Within the last year 34 Helping Protect Our Sacred Sites from Fire alone, our grantees provided services to over 290,000 individuals. Peg Breen, President By Christopher Marrion Ann-Isabel Friedman, Director, We are pleased to present our latest edition of our program publica- Sacred Sites Program tion, Common Bond. In this issue you will find timely articles on virtual 44 Opening Doors: Colleen Heemeyer, Deputy Direc- worship services; accessibility and fire prevention for historic houses of tor, Sacred Sites Program Accessibility in Historic Houses of Worship worship; and a feature on our Long Island funding partner, the Robert D.L. Gardiner Foundation. We hope you find it interesting and useful. Sacred Sites Committee By Michael Doyle and Andy Liu Canon George W. Brandt Our very best wishes to you, your congregations, and families. Peg Breen Bernadette Castro 48 Sacred Sites Grants of 2019 Gus Christensen Mark Cisz Ronne Fisher Rev. John Kamas Miriam Kelly Rabbi Serge Andrew Lippe President Malcolm MacKay Lise Moran Amanda P. Niu Sheila Parekh-Blum, Chair Jonathan Plotkin Marc Schappell The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, Inc. – A Funding Partnership for Long Island’s Sacred Sites By Mari S. Gold Mari S. Gold 1 3 4 3 is a New York City based Kathryn Curran, Archi- freelance writer who tectural Conservator Joel contributes to several Snodgrass, Ann Friedman, magazines and websites. and the Preservation Among the topics she League’s Erin Tobin pres- covers are food, travel, ent at Gardiner Founda- dance, theatre and other tion Grants Workshop. arts. Her blog “But I Digress...” focuses on 4 cultural events, travel and The 1890 United Method- food at: ist Church of Patchogue www.marigoldonline.net has dozens of intersect- ing roofs of different slopes, complicating roof drainage. This funding and relationship with the Gardiner Foundation has resulted in a huge jump in the Conservancy’s outreach and grant awards in Suffolk County, with the Gardiner Foundation referring nearly all inquiries from religious sites to Sacred Sites staff. In the seven years prior to collaborating with the Gardiner Foundation, the Conservancy awarded 14 grants to 13 Long Island churches and synagogues, total- 5 ing $157,500, which helped fund nearly $1.2 5 “So many organizations don’t understand the work with historic houses of worship, and ways Executive Director 1 million in restoration work. Then, in just the first Kathryn Curran joins grant process,” said Kathryn R. Curran, that both organizations might collaborate in Rev. Miller of Old First two years with funding and project referrals Conservancy staff and Executive Director of the Robert David Lion the future. Presbyterian Church from the Gardiner foundation, the Conservan- church trustees to discuss accepts grant check from Gardiner Foundation, which primarily supports Patchogue project man- cy was able to exceed the totals of the prior Conservancy President the study of New York State history. “When a agement. Peg Breen 2 seven years, pledging 15 grants to 10 historic site has first worked with the New York religious institutions, totaling $167,500, helping 2 Landmarks Conservancy the staff has more to fund $1.26 million in restoration projects. Old First Trustee Pres- insight so it makes ongoing work easier at their ident Cindy Samuels, end and ours.” Kathryn Curran of the “The Conservancy’s Sacred Sites staff is so us- Gardiner Foundation, er-friendly and gentle,” Curran continued. For The relationship between the Gardiner Foun- and Gardiner Foundation instance, with the United Methodist Church of trustee Judge Cohalan dation and the New York Landmarks Con- Patchogue, Conservancy staffers spent hours servancy began in 2016 when both parties helping church leadership step back from independently helped fund the restoration of their impulse to rush to address urgent repairs the steeple at Old First Presbyterian Church at their site and take a more long-term view. in Huntington, Long Island. The Conservancy held a press event at the church, which dates Beginning in 2003, the United Methodist from 1784, to generate more interest in, and Church of Patchogue had received several potentially interest new funders for, Long Island Curran then invited Friedman and her col- prior Conservancy grants for masonry and roof projects. This event was followed by a lun- league Colleen Heemeyer, Deputy Director, repairs but, despite having spent hundreds of cheon hosted by Conservancy board mem- Grants and Preservation Services, to make thousands of dollars, the building continued ber Bernadette Castro, former Commissioner presentations about the Conservancy’s Sa- to leak badly, causing huge areas of plaster of the New York State Office of Parks, Recre- cred Sites grant program at Gardiner’s period- in the sanctuary to become dangerously ation, and Historic Preservation. Attendees ic Long Island grants workshops. After several loose. The Conservancy referred the church included leadership from Old First, Conservan- successful workshops, Curran invited the Con- to architectural conservator Joel Snodgrass, cy board members, local officials and other servancy to submit a proposal to the Gardiner (who coincidentally, consults with the Gardin- funders of the project, including Curran and a Foundation, requesting funding to help under- er Foundation, providing technical review of Gardiner Foundation trustee, Judge Peter Fox write three years of grants to historic religious its other construction grants). Curran joined Cohalan. Curran and Ann Friedman, Director sites on Long Island. The foundation board Conservancy staff at our site visit with church of the Sacred Sites program at the Conser- authorized $50,000 per year for three years in trustees, and her endorsement of our consul- vancy, took the opportunity to talk