Historic Amityville Chapel Gets Help For Stained Glass Restoration

AMITYVILLE, NY — The Sisters of St. Dominic in Amityville has received a $3,000 Sacred Sites grant to help fund consulting services for stained glass restoration, the New York Landmarks Conservancy said.

The grant was one of 21 Sacred Sites grants totaling $287,500 awarded to 18 historic religious properties throughout New York State, according to the Conservancy. Sacred Sites regranting on Long Island is supported by funding from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.

The Sisters of St. Dominic complex includes five buildings on about 19 acres in North Amityville. The motherhouse and novitiate were part of the work of missionary nuns who left Regensburg, Germany, in the 1850s to serve in America, establishing schools and orphanages in New York before expanding to other parts of the country, the Conservancy said.

Rosary Hall, the largest building in the historic complex, was completed between 1876 and 1878. The Gothic Revival-style red-brick building was designed by architect William Schickel and contains the chapel.

In addition to worship and housing for the nuns, the campus hosts community outreach programs, including the Opening Word ESOL program, a food pantry and CenterLight PACE, which provides services for older adults with chronic illnesses. The order also partners with nearby Molloy University on student service projects and experiential learning.

The campus serves about 1,100 people in the community annually, according to the Conservancy.

The Sacred Sites Program provides congregations with matching grants for planning and implementing restoration projects, as well as technical assistance and workshops. Since 1986, the program has pledged more than 1,700 grants totaling over $14.75 million to more than 880 religious institutions statewide, helping fund more than $820 million in repair and restoration projects.

The New York Landmarks Conservancy is a private nonprofit that has worked for more than 50 years to preserve New York’s architectural legacy. Since its founding, the Conservancy has loaned and granted more than $62 million, leveraging nearly $1 billion in almost 2,000 restoration projects throughout the state, the organization said.

“We are pleased to help another 18 historic religious institutions throughout the State,” Peg Breen, president of The New York Landmarks Conservancy, said. “Religious buildings tell the story of our history, our immigration patterns and our architectural growth. They also anchor communities. Collectively, these grantees serve 94,500 persons beyond their congregations with social service and cultural programming.”