Friday, April 8, 2016

Save St Laurentius Church Update

Regarding the Save St Laurentius Church group

A shift or compromise developed towards the goal to save St Laurentius Church this year can be traced between January 22 and March 2. It unfortunately was not clearly presented and, in part, presents questions of contradicting positions. It was only then, April 1, that the Save Saint Laurentius group made an effort to clarify and publicly state their new position of compromise. (Saving the church structure but not the interior.)
This newly stated position comes out of the blue for those of us who are not intimately associated or just casual observers of developing issues concerning St Laurentius. It also makes an unjustified criticism of a much needed neighborhood preservation group. There obviously was a lack of communication between the two groups. The contradicting statements (changing) and action by the Save St Laurentius group is a factor.
The Save St Laurentius Church group, in part, closed off some public discussion around April 2014. The other contributing part was some of the Fishtown public responses that were less than desirable. It quickly turned into vitriolic exchanges which did not help the cause regardless of the passion and reasons.
It is for the above stated actions that a willingness to communicate to find common ground and goals are painfully needed. It is also notable that the Save St Laurentius Church group never (clearly) stated what action the preservation group took that is "foolish." The other side of the coin is whether the preservation group did or didn't make/have prior contact before taking action.
The preservation groups action was to seek historic designation for the interior of the church. The Save St Laurentius group had done the same thing and thus the contradiction.

It still amazes me that regardless of the gaffes that the common goal remains to save St Laurentius Church. The best part is that there is no known effort by the Fishtown community to sabotage this effort. Support this effort even if it requires a grain of salt.  Donate for a worthy cause: Save St Laurentius Church






pov by roman blazic screenshots from http://savestlaurentius.org/


         

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