That title is actually a bit of hyperbole. The building, St. Gerard Church erected in 1911, has not officially been scheduled for demo but in essence that is now its likely fait. The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has decreed that the Saint Gerard parish will cease to meet in this church leaving the building's future in question. The parish will be combined with two other parishes which will meet at Blessed Trinity Church on Buffalo's east side starting in the new year. The final mass will be held at St. Gerard on Tuesday January 1, 2008 at 10:00 am.
Very likely this beautiful place full of history will slowly be removed over time via the elements, vandals, and opportunists following an all too familiar scenario known as demolition by neglect. The closing of this building quite possibly represents another example of Buffalo's valuable heritage being dumped in the trash. The riches built up in Buffalo through one and a half centuries of prosperity are now being stripped away, barely rating a story or two in the Buffalo News. The parish and the Diocese are calling the final mass a "celebration" and have provided the closing and merging process with the catch phrase title "Journey in faith and Grace".
Buffalo is not alone in this painful process of loss. The December issue of Architect magazine features a story about the closing of 65 out of 357 churches in Boston. Even in this wealthy and heavily Catholic city a declining church hit hard with scandal has had to face up to the reality that these massive and highly specialized buildings are no longer needed or sustainable by their dwindling memberships. In the case of Boston many of these churches are in neighborhoods with highly desirable real estate. This does not guarantee their survival however, as land costs often make removal of the church building more profitable to new owners. A year after announcement of the church closings the National Trust for Historic Preservation named all of the historic Catholic Churches of Greater Boston to its annual list of the 11 most endangered places in the United States.
For more pictures of St Gerard's Church go to this site. For more information on the building go here. The pictures are great but buildings like this must be experienced in person. You have one week left to do that. I highly recommend attending one of the very few remaining masses. St Gerard's is located on the corner of Baily and Delavan on Buffalo's east side.
This is part three in my recent east side tour. After seeing St Gerard's early in my one-day adventure I was spurred on to see more of the magnificent churches that were at one time such an anchor of this part of the city. Stay tuned for more. See also:
Part one: Houses of the Holy
and a related piece: My Favorite Buildings: Lying in Wait