Why is it that churches seem to particularly enjoy destroying historic landmarks? I know the obvious reason: parking lot. But, doesn't it seem to be a particularly un-christian and un-neighborly thing to do?
Here in North Carolina, historic landmarks are dropping like flies to church expansion or to church parking lots. The Royal Ice Cream Parlor in Durham is a prime example. The ice cream store was the site of an early (1957) anti-segregation sit in, and was bulldozed in 2007 by the Union Missionary Baptist church so that they could build a parking lot for their once-a-week church services.
Other recent examples are in New Bern, Washington, and Southern Pines, where churches have destroyed significant historic structures so as to expand their... what else: parking. There are MANY more known examples of this state-wide, and I can't even begin to fathom the problem on a national scale.
According to the very excellent blog, "Endangered Durham," churches "are one of the preeminent threats to history and architectural preservation." And according to Paul Fomberg, a senior restoration specialist with the State Historic Preservation Office of the NC Department of Cultural Resources, there is "a disturbing trend nationwide, which has been documented by the National Trust for Historic Preservation ... whereby institutions such as churches, colleges, and universities purchase neighborhood properties in order to create parking lots and to construct new buildings, resulting in the piecemeal destruction of entire historic neighborhoods in order to satisfy the institution’s short-term goals, without any long-term vision of the ultimate results of those actions."
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