So apparently Alex Shebar is a new Warren County beat writer for the Enquirer. On his blog yesterday he had a post titled "What Are You Thinking, Cincinnati?" A self-described 22 year old and resident of Clifton, in his post he has a problem with the Urban Outfitter store in the old church in Clifton Heights. I guess he thinks it is somehow sacrilege having a commercial establishment in a church building. Well, no it is not. It is a great example of adaptive reuse pure and simple. (I even saw a cool thesis on the subject called "Convert!") In his piece he makes it seem he would rather have an empty church OR a store in cheap, bland, new construction like most of what is around it on William Howard Taft than a commercial business in an old church.
As congregations have moved to the suburbs along with their members, cities all over are faced with boarded up churches. And many have found adaptive reuses:
- Condos in a ton of cities like Boston, Seattle, DC, and Philadelphia
- A rock climbing gym in Dayton, OH
- A brew pub in Pittsburgh
- A library in Allentown, NJ
- And dance clubs in places as different as Denver and New York City.
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4 comments:
One of the problems with these old urban churches is that the smaller congregations that inhabit them cannot afford the upkeep of the structure.
I know a church that would love to have used Old St George for religious gatherings but the heating bills would put them out of business. Since the government can't subsidize these inhabitants, you either tear down the structure or reuse it. I say, best to leave the structure standing.
In a somewhat unrelated note, I do find it interesting that the Warren County beat writer is living in Clifton.
Isn't that UO's MO? They repurpose old buildings-- it's their thing. It gives a company that can afford to pay the heating a really cool space, and keeps history alive in some way (even if it involves hipsters and overpriced tchotchkes). I truly enjoy going into UO just because of its cool architecture. Makes it feel less corporate, and more a part of the community.
God, who the hell knows what I am thinking. My mother has wondered that same question for a while.
I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I am at least not so closed off on the subject anymore. The comments (and blog posts I guess) showed me diffrent things I never thought of, and that's a plus right there.
And yes, I am indeed living in Clifton and covering Warren County. It's a good tale to tell another day.
I do appreciate you reading my blog and I hope you will continue to do so. Yours has now been added to my RSS feed, so I promise I will be doing the same for you.
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