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Archdiocese to demolish Newark's first African-American Catholic church

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Queen of Angels, the first African-American Roman Catholic church in Newark, is structurally not safe and will be demolished by the Archdiocese of Newark.

The church bells will be given to St. Lucy's Church in Newark and Seton Hall University's seminary is getting the pews and the stained glass windows.

The New Jersey Institute of Technology will take the piano and the stations of the cross will be housed in a mausoleum at an Archdiocese of Newark cemetery.

These are they places you'll have to go if you want see what's left of Queen of Angels, the first African-American Roman Catholic church in Newark.

It's been closed for three years, but now it's going to be demolished. The Newark Landmarks & Historic Preservation Commission voted last week to give the Archdiocese of Newark the green light to raze the building, which is on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.

 The 6-1 decision came after commissioners agreed with findings from an engineer hired by the archdiocese, whose report indicated that the building is not structurally safe and cannot be refurbished.

 "It's pretty obvious it's not a safe building to repair,'' says Bill Mikesell, chairman of the commission.  "It's almost like it has to be rebuilt, but it's their (the archdiocese's) negligence that got it there.''

 Former Queen of Angels parishioners believe that, too. As membership declined over the years, they say archdiocese did nothing to save the building when it began to crumble. The church was closed in 2012, the same year that the roof collapsed and the archdiocese told parishioners the building was too costly to maintain.

News of the commission's approval didn't go down easy.  It never will.

"You just punched me in the gut,'' says Tony Brice, a former church member. 

Anker West, an architectural designer in Newark, says the building appeared to be salvageable after he toured it recently with Matt Gosser, a member of the Newark Preservation & Landmarks Committee, a not-for-profit organization that advocates for preservation of Newark's history. 

Last year, Gosser says he tried to purchase the building from the archdiocese for $50,000 and planned to turn it into a gallery or museum.

"Their engineer's findings should at least be challenged,'' West says."In a normal city, there would be a real hesitation to discard such an important and beautiful piece of history.''

Gosser says his offer was rejected by the archdiocese, which would not discuss its plans for the property when I asked last year. Gosser, who believes the church can be saved, calls this situation demolition by neglect. 

"Whenever a building owner wants a building to be demolished, they stop making repairs to it," he says, "so eventually, nature takes over and they say they have to knock it down.''

Meanwhile, the archdiocese says it has moved forward in talks with A.E. Smith Associates, a New York real estate firm. Steven Belloise, executive director of the office of property management for the archdiocese, told landmark commission members that the real estate company has indicated the land on which Queen of Angels is located on Irvine Turner Boulevard could be used for a charter school.

 "They're very cognizant of our mission, so we feel like the property is in good hands with them,'' Belloise says.

The archdiocese would have torn down the building last year, but the city revoked its demolition permit after learning the church was on both state and national historic registers.

With last week's approval of demolition, the archdiocese agreed to make a donation to the landmarks committee that would be used to fund the preparation of nominations of buildings and city districts to historic registers. Mikesell says the archdiocese's donation will equal 10 percent of the cost of the demolition and 10 percent of the appraised value of the religious items that were removed from Queen of Angels.

It's tough looking at the church now. You can see holes in the roof. Inside, plaster is falling and the columns are weak, according John Dalessio, the engineer hired by the archdiocese. Brickface is peeling off the front. Squatters are inside the grammar school building, the weeds are high and garbage is everywhere.

Cecilia Faulks, a former parishioner, says she turns her head away if she's nearby. She's gone through her stages of grief from sadness to anger - watching her beloved parish deteriorate.

"At this point, I'll be glad to see it torn down," she says. "My heart just aches to see it standing there like that.''

The church members realize there's nothing they can do. In recent years, when they thought the building was about to be razed, they came back to the empty church to reminisce. Many of them have since joined other churches.

Queen of Angels' history is rich and well documented.  It is where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. visited and held meetings for his Poor People's campaign. A racial walk for harmony that the church organized after King was killed drew 25,000 people to the Central Ward.

Known as the beacon on the hill, the church is best remembered for its neighborhood outreach. There were dances and bake sales, fish fries and community plays to complement many activities and programs.

Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the archdiocese, says he's not sure when demolition will begin.

Trust and believe. It won't be long. 

Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or nj.com/carter of follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL


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