The 100-year old Rochambeau is gone. The Archdiocese of Baltimore knocked down the Renaissance Revival apartment building last weekend to make room for a prayer garden.
Preservationists, who called the building architecturally important, protested the Archdiocese?s plans in court. They said the church?s goals contradicted the city?s to increase the population and businesses in the Mount Vernon neighborhood. Granting the permit to destroy the Rochambeau, they argued, would give the church special privileges that other secular owners might not win in similar circumstances.
Ultimately, however, this is a property rights issue and not one of privileges. It was the church?s building and it had a right to tear it down.
Where were the preservationists when the church bought the property in 2001? They could have prevented its fate.
Just because the Archdiocese had the power to tear it down, however, does not mean the preservationists were wrong to scrutinize the church?s actions. When the Archdiocese purchased the Rochambeau, it stated it had no plans to raze the building.
Second, in court papers, Cardinal William H. Keeler, archbishop of Baltimore, said delays “in implementing these plans frustrate our religious mission and deprive us and others of valuable opportunities for prayer, education, and reflection.”
The cardinal couldn?t have meant anyone would be deprived of prayer, reflection or education because of a delay in establishing a prayer garden? Nor would he argue that any of us need a prayer garden to pray or to learn? Right?
It also seems unclear whether the garden will truly be used for reflection. Ultimately, the church would like to set up a visitor?s center on the same site for the nearby Basilica of the Assumption, currently undergoing a two-year, $32 million renovation. Started in 1806, it is America?s first cathedral and a National Historic Landmark.
The Archdiocese says the restored Basilica of the Assumption is expected to attract “hundreds of thousands of visitors to the area each year.” After visitors file out of the cathedral, “they will be directed to the prayer garden on Charles Street where they can visit the restaurants, shops and other attractions in Mount Vernon.”
Maybe they?ll find time to pray, too.
