 Who doesn't love a good brownie? Especially when it represents an opportunity to support a neighborhood landmark.*
This Sunday, August 8, 2:00 PM, West-Park Presbyterian Church congregation will hold a bake sale
in front of its building on West 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. Stop
by and eat up a storm!
There is much work ahead to
restore and revitalize this landmark, an anchor on this site since 1884,
called by architectural historian Andrew S. Dolkart "unquestionably one
of the most beautiful religious structures on the Upper West Side."
And there are several ways to help. You may also make tax-deductible contributions to the New York Landmarks Conservancy,
which has created a designated West-Park account that, thanks to a community
fundraiser organized by Council Member Gale Brewer in June 2010,
contains starter funds earmarked for bricks-and-mortar work to restore
West-Park's exterior. Checks can be made payable to "New York Landmarks Conservancy," with "WPPC" in the memo line, and mailed to:
New York Landmarks Conservancy
1 Whitehall Street
New York, NY 10004
This
is only the beginning of what must be a robust, sustained,
community-wide effort. At this early stage, pledges are also welcome! Full restoration of West-Park Presbyterian Church will cost millions, but we must
begin with manageable goals. LW! is working with Rev. Dr. Robert L.
Brashear, Council Member Brewer, Friends of West Park, and preservation colleagues to apply
best practices modeled on other successful examples of
sacred-site preservation, beginning with the Eldridge Street Project, where citizen action led to the complete restoration of a Lower East Side landmark. We will keep you posted as plans take shape. Stay tuned! Stay involved! Email LW! to find out how you can help. Stay close to 86th Street on Sunday and pick up treats!
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*West-Park Presbyterian Church (original 1884 chapel designed
Leopold Eidlitz; 1890 sanctuary addition designed by Henry F. Kilburn)
was officially confirmed as a NYC Individual Landmark in May 2010.
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