Flatbush Church Lacks 'Excellence,' Can Be Torn Down, LPC Rules

DITMAS PARK, BROOKLYN — A century-old church facing demolition can be knocked down after the Landmarks Preservation Commission refused to designate as a historic site.

The LPC will not grant historic landmark status to the Baptist Church of the Redeemer — which owners hope to tear down and replace with a nine-story apartment building — at 1921 Cortelyou Road because it lacks “architectural excellence,” the board wrote in its letter to Respect Brooklyn, the activist group trying to save the church.

“It does not rise to the significance necessary for consideration as a potential individual New York landmark,” wrote director of research Kate Lemos McHale. “The Commission must be very selective in choosing examples of this building type for designation.”

Respect Brooklyn published the letter Tuesday morning and promised followers they would continue to fight to preserve the church by asking for another evaluation once the LPC comes under new leadership in June.

The activists will appeal the board’s ruling that the Romanesque and Art Deco church was a lesser work of Frank J. Helme and Harvey W. Corbett — the architects behind the Prospect Park Boathouse and the Master Building on Riverside Drive — and should be preserved.

“This is not surprising,” the activists said of the ruling. “We are going to ask the LPC to re-evaluate their assertion that it was a 'late' work of Helmle (and Corbett) as incorrect and irrelevant.”

Respect Brooklyn hopes to relay the message that the Baptist Church of the Redeemer, which has stood on the corner of Ocean Avenue and Cortelyou Road since 1919, should be preserved because it is an anomaly in Helmle’s work, activist Harry Bubbins told Patch.

"It was designed in this period where they were doing almost gaudy designs," Bubbins said. "This wonderfully austere example of such amazing architecture from this team deserves preservation."

Church owner Reverend Sharon Williams argues the neighborhood needs the affordable housing that the new apartment building could provide.

Photo courtesy of GoogleMaps/Sept. 2017