click to enlarge - File: Sasha Goldstein ©️ Seven Days
- St. Stephen Catholic Church in Winooski
Updated on March 29, 2023.
Following an appeal, the City of Winooski has reversed course and denied a demolition permit for St. Stephen Church. In a unanimous decision signed on Monday, the Development Review Board overruled the zoning administrator's decision to approve a permit, saying it recently learned that the 95-year-old landmark on Barlow Street is listed on the State Register of Historic Places.
"[This decision] aligns with the overwhelming support from the Winooski community to save this beloved building from demolition and find it a respectful, new use," said Britta Fenniman Tonn, a city resident and architectural historian. She helped appeal the demolition permit and submitted a petition with the signatures of more than 80 community members.
The decision is a blow to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, which wants to demolish the building and sell the property to a company that intends to build housing on the site. The diocese, which has 30 days to appeal the DRB's decision, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But, in applying for the demolition permit, Rev. Yvon Royer explained that razing the building was "the best way to honor its sacred character." He warned of "future litigation" should the building be used for anything "unbecoming, immoral, or even offensive to Catholics."
The church closed in 2020 due to a priest shortage and has sat idle since. Its assets were transferred to St. Francis Xavier Parish, half a mile away.
The city zoning administrator approved the demolition permit on December 20 after there was no clear evidence that the church was on the State Register of Historic Places. Fenniman Tonn appealed the decision to the Development Review Board in January.
More than 50 residents attended a February 16 public hearing on the appeal. Teary-eyed neighbors shared stories about their love for the Gothic Revival building, while preservationists questioned whether the structure was, in fact, historic, which would protect it from demolition.
Finding out proved difficult. The rectory was listed on the State Register of Historic Places in 1979, but the church was not (although it was mentioned). Also at issue: whether city zoning review would even apply to the building because churches and other houses of worship are protected from some such regulations.
But in a letter dated March 15, the state Division for Historic Preservation wrote that "we consider both the Rectory and the Church to be listed in the State Register of Historic Places."
Meanwhile, the DRB determined that the building was not protected from zoning review because it's no longer a church — and won't be used as one in the future.
"The last mass was celebrated almost three years ago," the board wrote, noting "that the 'sacred objects' had been removed from the building."
Fenniman Tonn applauded the decision, calling it "a befitting outcome" for a "building that is both historically and architecturally significant."
A similar battle is playing out in Burlington over the proposed demolition of the
former Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The parish wants to raze the building and sell the downtown property; a group called Preservation Burlington
has sued to stop the demolition.
Correction, March 29, 2023: A previous version of this story misreported which city entity issued the initial demolition permit.
Read the Winooski DRB's full decision below: