Hallelujah, spoke the neighborhood

Time is always a crucial aspect of preservation.

Bulldozer rumbling means you’ve run out of time.

Birds chirping, footsteps on the sidewalk mean you’ve bought some time.

The Church of the Assumption was given the gift of more time this week when Philadelphia’s L&I Review Board voted in favor of the Callowhill Neighborhood Association, overturning the Historical Commission’s demolition grant and allowing the church to stand awhile longer.

From Alan Jaffe for PlanPhilly:

Andrew Palewski, a contractor who specializes in restoring historic landmarks and the coauthor of the nomination of the church to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, said he was “very happy” with today’s decision. He noted that the review board members voted to sustain the appeal with a “proviso,” which Palewski said he hadn’t read yet. “I’m anticipating something along the lines of a limitation of time to find a buyer, or work with this out one way or another,” he said.

“What makes me optimistic today,” Palewski said, is that the Clay Studio directors will now be able to pursue the property without the threat of the wrecking ball hanging over them. “They want to get an engineer and architect to come up with ideas for the building, but they didn’t want to spend that kind of money if right around the corner was this impending demolition. I think there will be a higher comfort level for them now.”

Full story at PlanPhilly.