click to enlarge - File: John Phelan / Creative Commons
- Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Updated on August 28, 2023.
An effort to save Burlington's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was dealt a blow this week when a federal judge dismissed one of two lawsuits seeking to halt the demolition of the historic downtown building.
U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss ruled on Tuesday that members of the nonprofit Preservation Burlington failed to lay out a legal argument to stop the tear-down of the building at 20 Pine Street.
But the parish can't bring in the wrecking ball just yet: Days after Reiss' ruling, a state judge ruled that Preservation Burlington's second lawsuit, in environmental court, does have legal standing. Judge Thomas Durkin's order stayed the demolition until the parties can resolve the matter in court.
Burlington attorney John Franco, who is representing the parish, said the lawsuits have dragged on for too long.
The parish trust has sought to demolish the cathedral for more than a year, and Franco charged that Preservation Burlington is playing a "delay game."
"We're glad it finally was dismissed," Franco said of the federal case. "On so many levels, there was no basis for a claim here."
Preservation Burlington board member Bob Devino said the group likely won't appeal the federal ruling but thinks it brought attention to the demolition debate. He said the group is pleased with the state court decision.
"At least for the time being, the cathedral will still stand," he said.
Built in the 1970s, the angular, earth-toned cathedral was designed by well-known modernist architect Edward Larrabee Barnes. Its grounds, adorned with a grid of locust trees, were planned by Daniel Kiley, a prominent landscape architect. Historians say the site is one of few in Vermont that combines modernist design and landscaping.
The cathedral closed in 2018 due to dwindling attendance and is under contract for purchase by an undisclosed buyer. The parish wants to demolish the building as a means of desanctifying it.
The parish, whose members now worship at a cathedral in the Old North End, first applied for a demolition permit in 2021 but withdrew the request after the city determined the property is historically significant. City zoning says historic buildings can't be razed without a plan to redevelop them — and the parish didn't have one.
The city reversed course when the parish applied a second time. In January, the Development Review Board granted a demolition permit under a state law that exempts religious buildings from local zoning. Preservation Burlington sued, arguing that the law is unconstitutional because it affords special treatment to religious buildings over secular ones.
The federal lawsuit also alleged that the city had inflicted a "procedural injury" by not applying zoning to the building and that an "aesthetic injury" would result if the cathedral were torn down. Judge Reiss, however, said those arguments didn't pass legal muster.
In the state case, Judge Durkin came down on the side of Preservation Burlington members. His August 25 ruling said that to prove they had legal standing, the members had to show they could be harmed by the demolition — and did, in affidavits submitted to the court.
In considering the stay, Durkin said the appellants haven't proven they have "a strong likelihood of success" in court but that allowing the demolition would prevent them from arguing their case at all.
The parties are scheduled to meet in state court on September 18.