By Jeremy Walsh
A glimmer of hope has appeared once more for Maspeth residents hoping to make a park out of the lot where St. Saviour’s Church once stood.
Activists recently received a letter from city Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe saying the Parks Department would be interested in acquiring the land if it had the necessary funds.
Because the city does not have the funds to buy the property, however, residents are relying on City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) and Borough President Helen Marshall to get money together.
“Money has to be found, but in the past we’ve gotten the response that they didn’t want to acquire more land,” Crowley said, noting she regarded the letter as a positive step.
In an Aug. 28 letter to a Ridgewood resident, Benepe said the owners of the St. Saviour’s site, Maspeth Development, indicated their intention to develop the land for housing and had no interest in selling it to the city.
“While we could not justify the forcible acquisition of the site through condemnation, we would consider purchasing the land if the current owners are now willing sellers,” he wrote.
Christina Wilkinson, president of the Newtown Historical Society, said activists have an offer of free infill for the site from a nearby company, but cautioned the challenge ahead will be finding the money to keep the park going.
Benepe also wrote that “specific funding covering the full purchase price of the property, its improvement as a park and the cost of maintaining the site into the future” would have to be provided.
“At this time we have no such funding, but we would welcome allocations from the area’s local elected officials,” he wrote.
Wilkinson said Borough President Helen Marshall was also at work finding money for the property, but Marshall’s office did not return phone calls by press time Tuesday.
The plan has the backing of the Queens Civic Congress, which urged Community Board 5 to place acquiring the land high on its capital priorities list.
“We need our electeds on the hook here and a funding recommendation by Community Board 5 represents the best means to move the process to get our electeds behind this opportunity,” spokesman Corey Bearak wrote in a letter.
The property’s assessed value in April 2009 was $112,950, according to the city Department of Finance.
The Juniper Park civic and other city-based preservation groups succeeded in raising funds to disassemble the church and remove it from its old property, where developers were hoping to construct private homes. The civic had been fighting against the demolition of the church since 2006. The project cost the preservationists $140,000.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
