Chicago Catholic News: Deal reached to save historic St. Boniface

Deal reached to save historic St. Boniface

(UPDATED: 9/12/09) An agreement has been reached to save historic St. Boniface -- or, at least, significant parts of the vacant West Town church -- from the wrecking ball, officials said Friday.

Under the deal, four signature church towers would be saved, and the building would be converted into a "senior living" complex.

"St. Boniface is going to a developer who is going to preserve a large part of the building," Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) said. "The community is OK with it. . . . Everyone's writing up the agreement, the lawyers, everything's moving forward."

"We have like a quadruple trade going on with different properties as far as leases go," Burnett added. He's referring to a "land swap" designed to compensate the Archdiocese of Chicago, the church owner that had been pushing to rip down the Romanesque structure at Chestnut and Noble.

Jonathan Fine of Preservation Chicago, which has been trying to save St. Boniface from destruction, said his group was part of the discussions and believes this is the best solution under the circumstances.

"The choice would be adaptive re-use -- or a rubble-strewn vacant lot," Fine said. "Those were our choices, so we accepted adaptive re-use."

Oak Brook-based Institutional Project Management LLC is the developer, which plans 75 senior apartments and, possibly down the road, assisted living and nursing care, said president Ken McHugh, a former executive vice president at DePaul University.

"The entire front of the church with the two towers looking toward [a park], that sort of front-entrance look will remain in tact as well the two towers that flank that -- so four towers total," McHugh said.

He hopes that all the paperwork and land transfers will be finalized by January, and that construction begins in spring. (The project also will need City Council approval.)

"We're very positive about it, and very positive about saving some of the architectural [characteristics] that represent the spirit of St. Boniface," he said.

Burnett said the land swap involves, among other things, a parish near Cabrini-Green, St. Joseph, securing a 99-year lease of Byrd, a nearby public school building.

The entire St. Boniface deal was complicated to pull together because so many players and parcels were involved, Burnett said. "God came through -- only God can put something like this together," he said with a laugh.

A spokeswoman for the archdiocese said she had no information on St. Boniface.

A spokeswoman for the Daley administration said via email: "Our goal has always been to find a way to save the church and we are continuing to discuss the options we have with several parties who are involved. We are hopeful that we will reach a compromise to which all parties can agree."

Click here and here for previous stories on St. Boniface, and background.

By ChicagoCatholicNews
Contact: info@chicagocatholicnews.com

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