Posts tagged Third Church
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Historic preservation is a political movement
The church anti-preservation bill, first introduced and withdrawn by Jack Evans and then reintroduced by Marion Barry, will not be considered this year. Chairman Gray has decided not to proceed with the bill, designed primarily to get rid of Third Church, until after the Mayor’s Agent hearing now scheduled for November 25th. Keep reading…
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Third Church: Decide another day
Acting as the Mayor’s Agent in deciding whether to allow Third Chuch to raze their Brutalist building, Office of Planning Director Harriet Tregoning granted a request by the DC Preservation League to “continue” the hearing in a month. The Preservation League just received Third Church’s financial information on Friday, and argued that they hadn’t… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Raze baby raze?
Third Church first to go? Today is the Mayor’s Agent hearing on whether to allow Third Church of Christ, Scientist to tear down and redevelop their landmarked building at 16th and I. I’ll be there to watch and report. Observers think the church is probably going down; allowing a raze would also forestall civil rights litigation and legislation that might have far-reaching… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Paved paradise edition
AP covers parking minimums: This Associated Press article summarizes the debate over relaxing parking minimums. The article quotes Jeff Speck, who testified in favor of relaxing minumums, and Capitol Hill ANC Commissioner Ken Jarboe, who testified against. It also gives an example of a historic Milwaukee building which burned down and couldn’t redevelop until the city… Keep reading…
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Third Church brings civil rights lawsuit
The Third Church of Christ Scientist, which occupies a now-landmarked Brutalist modern building on 16th Street, has brought a civil rights lawsuit against the city after having their raze application denied by HPRB last month. According to the Post article, “the church says the landmark designation violates the First Amendment by limiting its ability to freely practice… Keep reading…
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Church anti-preservation bill comes back
In March, Councilmember Jack Evans (ward 2) introduced a bill to essentially exempt churches from historic preservation. It was clearly designed for Third Church, the Brutalist octagonal pipe that should not be a landmark, but would have much broader implications. Now, the bill is back, reintroduced on June 10 by Marion Barry (ward 8), Richard Layman reports. Keep reading…
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Evans’ church bill goes beyond RLUIPA
There have been great and thoughtful comments on my post last week about the Keep reading…
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Dupont ANC should give great thought to deserve great weight
DC’s local elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissions are entitled to “great weight” from agencies on whose decisions the ANC has commented. But what does “great weight” mean, and are the ANCs getting the consideration they deserve? The Dupont Circle ANC has been asking this question frequently of late as the HPRB has disagreed with nearly all… Keep reading…
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Church exemption from historic designation?
While I was debating parking zoning regulations, Councilmember Jack Evans announced a new bill that would exempt religious institutions from being designated as historic sites against their will. This is clearly aimed at the Third Church landmarking. Keep reading…
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HPRB landmarks Third Church
I attended the Historic Preservation Review Board meeting last Thursday, which was a special meeting to discuss the landmarking of the Christian Science Church on 16th and I. After hearing from architectural historians and church representatives, the board members affirmed their belief that the church met the criteria for landmarking, while also qualifying their votes… Keep reading…