Mount Carmel church to enter historic redevelopment debate
PHOTO/EDD Cote
Carmelita Belo, the vice president of the group Preserve Our Lady of Mount Carmel, sits on a front step outside the church. "I still consider myself a parishioner of Mount Carmel," she said.
Grant Welker
A tarp has been added to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel facade to keep debris in place.
Preservation advocates in Worcester are asking themselves a difficult question these days: Could Worcester support reuse of not just one former church, but two?
A group of residents is mobilizing to stop a potential demolition of the closed Our Lady of Mount Carmel church in Worcester as a legal roadblock delaying demolition ends May 19, echoing of the ongoing fight to save the Notre Dame des Canadiens Church downtown.
While the city has not yet ordered demolition, if the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester sells Mount Carmel, the new owner could raze the property.
The situation reflects the struggle of historic vs. modern as Worcester seeks to revitalize away from derelict, unused properties toward active use. Older buildings reflect the city's history and character, but while some like Union Station can be preserved, others like the former Worcester State Hospital have been torn down.
A group named Preserve Our Lady of Mount Carmel has been leading a charge to save Mount Carmel. The group's vice president, Carmelita Belo, said they've heard from people across the country wanting to lend help.
"The support is incredible," she said.
Repair funds better spent elsewhere
Mount Carmel, a Catholic church built in 1928 on Mulberry Street, closed abruptly a year ago this month, with the parish saying the building must be demolished because it has become unsafe and too costly to repair. The building's front facade was found to be leaning outward, requiring the removal of a decorative frieze at the roofline and installation of a net to catch any debris.
“There are no assets available for the diocese to simply step in and maintain a parish when it is no longer financially viable on its own,” the church's pastor, Stephen Pedone, said in a statement to parishioners last May.
“Can we ask the diocese to forego service to others at the expense of a building we cannot afford to maintain?” he asked.
The parish is now talking to brokers for a potential sale of the site.
Mount Carmel and Notre Dame share an unfortunate distinction: They were listed among the state's seven most endangered historical properties last year by the group Preservation Massachusetts.
Heritage as part of revitalization
Preservation Worcester, which has largely focused on the Notre Dame church, has pitched in to help save Mount Carmel.
“From our perspective, it's a magnificent building, but it also has a rich cultural heritage,” said Deborah Packard, Preservation Worcester's executive director, describing the church's central role for the city's French community.
Preserving historically significant buildings facing potential demolition requires patience, Packard said, adding she doesn't understand a need to rush for either church's deconstruction. She isn't especially encouraged about the future of the churches.
“They're both very, very endangered,” Packard said.
Worcester has a complicated history with preserving its historic buildings. Acres of buildings were torn down to create the Worcester Center Galleria, and more were eliminated to make way for Interstate 290, which barely spared Mount Carmel.
There have been some success stories, with others unsettled.
The former Worcester Vocational High School has been turned into the Voke Lofts apartment development. The Palladium made Preservation Massachusetts' endangered list but has been spared the wrecking ball.
Two other massive empty civic buildings at Lincoln Square await modern reuse, including the Worcester Memorial Auditorium and the Worcester County Courthouse, the latter of which has been eyed for a $35-million mixed-use development.
Notre Dame, which closed in 2008, is under agreement to be sold to an unnamed party, according to its current owner, developer CitySquare II.
Preservation Worcester believes most of the nearly $20-million project cost could be covered by historical and other tax credits.
Mount Carmel's champions
Mount Carmel parish merged last year with a smaller sister church, Our Lady of Loreto. Diocese financial records show Mount Carmel had a $235,000 deficit, but that it also brought in about $92,000 more than it spent for the year.
Church attendance had been in decline. In 2002, the church counted nearly 1,900 parishioners one weekend. By 2015, there were fewer than 500.
Preserve Our Lady of Mount Carmel hopes to raise $120,000 to make the building safe and keep it from demolition. So far, it has about $100,000.
Bello has been a parishioner of Mount Carmel her whole life.
“I still consider myself a parishioner of Mount Carmel,” she said. “I just turned 62. I've been here my entire life.”
Bello hopes Mount Carmel could be turned into a museum, a shrine, performance space or a visitors center.
Exploring a sale
The parish, meanwhile, is talking to several brokers for a potential sale and redevelopment of the Mount Carmel site, Pedone said in an interview. Church leaders are not ruling out the church could be used in a different way, he said.
Pedone, the top-ranking clergy member at Mount Carmel and Our Lady of Loreto, called the situation very unfortunate and nearly unavoidable once I-290 was built. The highway rumbles so closely that the church's rectory building sometimes shakes, he said, and the church building itself has suffered structural issues.
“There's no one happy about this. Let's move forward. Instead of worshipping a building, let's worship God,” said Pedone, who grew up attending Mount Carmel. “The church is the people, not the building.”
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