By Gina Martinez
Bowne Street Community Church will finally be a city landmark after years of delay.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously voted to approve the church for landmark designation Tuesday. Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing), who has been on the forefront of getting the church designated, was thrilled the decade long fight has come to an end.
“With today’s unanimous vote we enthusiastically affirm the LPC’s decision that Bowne Street Community Church is worth saving,” he said. “While my office, the LPC and various preservation groups have committed to working with the church board on any future renovations, at the end of the day a landmark designation ensures the Bowne Street Community Church will not be lost to future generations, and I’m proud to support this effort.”
Bowne Community Church, located on 143-11 Roosevelt Ave., formerly known as the Protestant Reformed Dutch Church of Flushing, opened in 1892. The church was built in a Romanesque Revival style and features stained glass windows designed by Tiffany Glass Company. The church merged with another congregation in 1970 and became known as Bowne Street Community Church. It began serving the Taiwanese immigrant community after the demographics of the Flushing population changed and currently holds multi-denominational services in Korean, Spanish, Chinese and English.
The church had been added to the landmarks calendar in 2003, but it did not have its first hearing until October 2015. This was part of the initiative LPC adopted to address the backlog of buildings that were under consideration for designation, but were not designated or acted upon. Most on the list were calendared 20 or more years ago.
At the October hearing 13 people testified in support of designation with no one testifying against it. Another hearing had to be set because there was a mistake on the map presented at the hearing. A second hearing was held on Nov. 15, 2016 where elected officials like state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) and Koo as well as residents pushed for designation. The church members have been hesitant, however, fearing the financial burden of maintaining the building once it became a landmark.
According to Koo, the item will again be voted on at the Council’s Land Use Committee meeting, and then finally at next week’s full stated City Council meeting where the decision to landmark is expected to be upheld.
“This designation application has not been easy,” Koo said. “I have done my best to enable the church to monetize the land it controls, freeing it to develop over 90 percent of the allowable floor area on the site, while preserving the ability of future generations to enjoy this beautiful example of art and architecture. For these reasons, I support the designation.”
Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmart
