Thursday, February 24, 2005

Petty Little Tyrants

Stories like this infuriate me. 

The Holy Rosary Catholic Church on the lower east side of Milwaukee has a beautiful old building.  So beautiful, if fact, that it has been declared a historic landmark. 

Last week, after finding that eight of the twelve beams that support the church’s historic steeple were severely rotted, they took the steeple down to repair it.  They plan to put it back up in a few months. 

The problem is that the Historic Preservation Commission is planning on fining the church for removing the steeple because the church failed to obtain the proper permit from the Commission. 

This is ridiculous. 

The church removed the steeple so that it wouldn’t fall off and kill someone.  They didn’t take it off as a lark.  Furthermore, they intend to put it back once they repair it.  No one is harmed by this action.  Once the steeple is put back up, the building will look exactly like it used to, except with a new coat of paint. 

Given that this is a necessary repair and no one has been harmed, why would the Historic Preservation Commission feel it necessary to fine the church? 

This is just another case of a petty little busybody commission with its nose bent out of shape because someone dared do something without kissing their rings first.

(2) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2206 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. I echo your sentiments, Owen. As a member of the Three Holy Women parish, we were made aware of the severe structural damage to the steeple just recently. This is a great expense for our parish, and one that we have dutifully undertaken in the effort to preserve the beauty of the Holy Rosary Church. We are a small-ish parish, and one that has been tasked with the maintenance and upkeep of three historic churches (St. Hedwig’s, St. Rita’s, and Holy Rosary). They are all beautiful and historic, however, they are also rather old. As such, if you check the finances from last year’s expenditures, you will find that building maintenance, etc, well surpassed our projected allotments. Yet we continue to preserve and uphold the traditions of the respective sites. So for the Historic Preservation Commission to FINE us for this is ridiculous. They should concentrate their efforts on preserving the Avalon Theater in Bay View, rather than levy fines against people looking to uphold the very spirit of said Commission.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 25, 2005 at 0932 hrs


  2. I don’t know the details of how they came to become a historical landmark… but often a church can refuse to become one.  My church (First Congregational of Wauwatosa) did just that many years ago for this very reason.

    As soon as you accept that title, you are no longer in control.  When we redid our steeple several years ago… we did it how and when we wanted.  We ever installed aluminum storms and screens (*gasp*) because the upkeep on the old wooden ones was too much hastle.

    So while it can be a prestige thing… there is a cost.  It’s quite possible they have nobody to blame but themselves.

    Posted by Nick on February 25, 2005 at 1707 hrs


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