Abstract
The epiphany (pardon the religious pun) for the creation of this volume on the adaptive reuse (“conversion”?) of religious properties came on a golf course. The reverse is usually the case in that one is often sitting in church thinking about being on a golf course. In this case, however, the authors were on a golf course contemplating writing a volume about religious properties that they knew were abandoned or for sale. Questions were brought up in this volume, such as the following: How many such properties were there across the United States and did their impact vary regionally? Were certain types of churches or religious schools more susceptible to abandonment than others? Were there areas of a city where this abandonment was more problematic than others? The answers to these questions are central to this volume.
The book consists of 21 chapters written by both individual authors (nine of the total) and the remainder written by at least two, but no more than three, authors. The three authors credited with pulling the book together—Simons, DeWine, and Ledebur—decided that all of the chapters should be submitted to an editor, Laura A. Wertheimer, whose job it was to assure that the chapters were stylistically as similar as they could be given the variety of approaches, study areas, site, and situational differences that were encountered in assembling the case studies cited. The consistency is especially evident in the many tables, data comparisons, and short case study examples that are highlighted and set apart as vignettes so that the overall logical flow of the narrative is not disrupted. This uniformity prevails despite the book parading a plethora of techniques that one might use to assess the viability of a particular religious land-use conversion.
The techniques ranged from sophisticated quantitative regression analysis (Simon and Choi’s chapter “A Statistical Analysis of Religious and School Building Rehabilitation in the United States”) through various forms of highest and best use analysis (e.g., Ledebur’s chapter on “The ‘Highest and Best’ in Adaptive Reuses”), to simple checklists of factors that should be considered when assessing the viability of a particular adaptive reuse, and even factors to consider when attempting to win the hearts and minds of citizens located within the potentially affected neighborhood in public meeting forums (e.g., chapter 8 by Simons et al., “Winning Community Approval”). This often-overlooked detail is an important element in determining if a proposed adaptive reuse achieves an approving consensus. At worse, an ill-conceived reuse project may have to be scrapped or, if approved, may leave a bad taste in the collective mouths of those on the receiving end of the associated negative externalities. One adaptive reuse that was especially badly received was the conversion of a former Congregational church in Pontiac, Michigan, through several iterations until it finally became a night club called Clutch Cargo, presumably named after the televised cartoon show of 1959-1960. Perhaps being voted “the best bar to find a one-night stand” (p. 174) did not sit particularly well with the local residents. As one resident noted, “To think that somebody would be that brash to rub people’s faces into the idea of a church being turned into a bar in such a sacrilegious way appalls me” (as quoted from Sataline, 1995).
Not all conversions of churches to bars have been met with such resistance, as is shown by The Church Brew Works (brew pub and restaurant) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. If the conversion is done well, maintaining both the façade of the former church (in this case the St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church) and the necessary renovations hew closely to the elements of the original interior, it can be a welcoming gathering place, especially for those searching for unique experiences in their bricks-and-mortar entertainment choices.
As a geographer, I learned a great deal about real estate transactions as a result of reviewing this book. There are many sources of funding available, especially in the adaptive reuse of historic structures, and chapter 6 (“Financing the Adaptive Reuse of Religious Buildings and Schools” by Sauwein and Simons) presents an array of these often-complicated options. The chapter serves as an excellent guide for anyone who has ever contemplated attempting such an adaptive reuse conversion of a religious property, and some of the terminology that might be unfamiliar to the reader unfamiliar with real estate options also appears in the book’s glossary.
The book is structured such that the first two chapters present an excellent overview of where adaptive reuse of religious buildings might be most prevalent by relying on the concentric ring model that has served sociologists and geographers effectively for other aspects of land use change. Many of these abandoned churches and/or religious schools are located in the former ethnic inner-suburban neighborhoods where the congregation who attended the church or parochial school during the time of its greatest viability have moved out to the outer suburbs and beyond, and the dwindling congregation can no longer afford to maintain such a large structure.
The next seven chapters are more specialized than the first two in demonstrating techniques that might be used to assess the viability of converting the religious land use into something more secular that would range from nonprofit and public uses, such as organizations designed to help the less advantaged in the community, libraries, and arts and recreational centers to private uses such as apartments and condominiums (both subsidized and market driven), office spaces, and commercial uses such as garages, storage facilities, and even brew pubs and nightclubs.
The 10th chapter (“From ‘Temples of Consumption’ to ‘Temples of Faith’”) by Ledebur and Vyakaranam) turns the tables by examining the conversion of vacant commercial and public spaces, such as strip malls and even the arena originally built for the Houston Rockets, into churches. The former Houston arena is now the home of Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, claimed to be America’s largest megachurch with over 30,000 members. While the chapter is short, it is clear that adaptive reuse cuts both ways—a religious building can be adaptively reused, which is the main emphasis of the book, but also abandoned buildings of many types can be converted into churches as well.
Chapter 11 is titled “Conclusion” and indeed its authors (Simons and Seo) do a good job of summarizing what has come before. But that chapter ends on p. 217 and there are 166 pages more in the book.
Chapters 12 through 21 (written by a variety of authors) are case studies of adaptively reused churches and religious properties replete with photographs and data on costs and revenues (where available and appropriate) for a variety of uses. These conversions included townhouse units (Cleveland Heights, Ohio); a performing arts center (Queens, New York); a rock climbing gym (Dayton, Ohio); residential condominiums (South Boston, Massachusetts); a recording studio, an art gallery, and a performing arts center (Buffalo, New York); a planned residential development from the sale of 20 separate church properties (St. Louis, Missouri); a street conversion project in a historic district (Fayetteville, Arkansas); a technical high school (Cleveland, Ohio); two schools in central Arkansas (Little Rock and Clinton, Arkansas); and lofts and a mixed-used development (Albuquerque, New Mexico).
The question that remains is, to whom is this book directed? It would make an excellent supplemental text in courses dealing with real estate, cost accounting, and business-related topics, such as economic redevelopment. It would be less useful as a text in urban geography or urban sociology, but might serve as useful supplemental material.
The book is at its best when the generalities are dispensed with and the authors get down to brass tacks because each case is fundamentally different. Although it is important to know funding sources and how to assess highest and best use in a general sense, it is also crucial that the case for the adaptive reuse be presented well to those who will be most impacted. This is to assure that the land use is most congruent with the desires of the community and the original sacred purpose of the church or religious school.