Posted on Mon Nov 14 2005:
The old St. Nicholas was built as a home in the 1830s. The boxlike structure, which stood on a 22-by-56-foot lot, was bought by Greek immigrants in 1916 and reconstituted as their church soon afterward. Patience is its virtue
Church waits to rebuild near WTC site (New York Daily News)
BY PAUL D. COLFORD
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
http://directionstoorthodoxy.org/mod/ne ... le_id=6237
Congregants who used to worship at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church before 9/11 attend a service yesterday at Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral in Brooklyn.
A drab work shed now stands on the West St. site where the venerable St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church served a close-knit congregation until the house of worship was destroyed on 9/11.
The tiny church's loyal flock has been meeting in Brooklyn, while its plans to return to lower Manhattan languish are in limbo. Rebuilding glass and steel towers and fitting memorials have taken precedence over replacing the landmark church, say the congregation's leaders.
"We're not really crazy about the way it's going," said John Pitsikalis, president of the board for the church, which was built as a home in 1830, then converted into a house of worship by Greek immigrants in 1916.
Church members plan to gather at the old site for an outdoor service on Dec. 6, their patron's feast day, to remember the lost of 9/11 and pray for a speedy chance to rebuild. But the congregation of 80 families is still waiting to learn where, on the complex map of Ground Zero, their new church will rise.
For the Port Authority, which owns the 16-acre trade center site that surrounded the church, the trick is to position the church near the old site, above a planned $500 million underground vehicle security center.
The new church is expected to end up somewhere east of its original site, which was on Cedar St., just off West St. in the shadow of the twin towers.
"Various plans for the site now show the church in different locations," Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said. "It remains unclear when decisions will be made about its final location."
Meanwhile, Pitsikalis and others have been going to Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral in Brooklyn, where their St. Nicholas pastor, the Rev. John Romas, has led Sunday liturgies.
Until the site for their new church is pinpointed, St. Nicholas leaders say they can't proceed with detailed design plans and will hold off on a fund-raising drive.
"We first want to be able to say we've got the property," Pitsikalis said.
Nicholas Koutsomitis, an architect and cultural facilities consultant who's helping the community prepare a master plan, said St. Nicholas "will be an important church because it will be the only place of worship on the site."
He added, "The community would like to make it more of a place of contemplation."
At the same time, Koutsomitis worried that the need to provide ample access to the underground security center, which will lead to parking lots for buses and cars, may affect what he called the "approachability" of the church.
The old St. Nicholas was built as a home in the 1830s. The boxlike structure, which stood on a 22-by-56-foot lot, was bought by Greek immigrants in 1916 and reconstituted as their church soon afterward.
"We're going to re-erect the church for our community," Pitsikalis said. "On Wednesdays, we used to open the church at lunchtime, and not everyone who came in, for the quiet and meditation, was Greek.
"We were happy with that, too. We'll be happy to welcome people back."
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