An application for an Article 85 demolition delay review has been filed by The Franciscan Monastery of St. Clare, Boston, Inc, which cites that the Sisters “have a constitutional right to demolish the property following any 90-day delay period imposed by the Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC).”
The Sisters say that they are protected by the First Amendment and their religious beliefs allow them to block the prevention of demolition.
The application, which was filed with the Boston Landmarks Commission, provides some history on the three story building, which is located at 920 Centre. St. It states that it was built as a monastery in 1932 and has 54,712 gross square feet of living area on 125,348 square feet of land.
“The entire perimeter of the rear yard of the monastery is enclosed behind a brick wall as part of the cloister and contains gardens,” the application states.
It continues, “the property is not located in a historic district, nor does it have any designation or listing in the National Register of Historic Places, the Massachusetts Historical Commission Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS) or any other designation by the Boston Landmarks Commission.”
The Poor Sisters of St. Clare, O.S.C. assert that they can no longer afford to maintain the building and property and “the Sisters do not wish that the property be put to another use or any adaptive re-use,” the application states. “Their sincerely held religious beliefs is what brings them to make the request for demolition.”
The application also states that one the building is demolished, the property will be sold to Holland Properties, which is proposing to construct “10 duplex townhouses and 2 triplex townhouses for a total of 26 townhouses.”
The Sisters state that only 10 nuns remain living in the existing building, so they plan on buying a smaller building for them to live in.
The City of Boston requires that prior to demolishing a building, an Article 85 application must be submitted.
According to the City of Boston website, “The article provides a predictable process for reviewing requests to demolish buildings by: establishing a waiting period to consider alternatives to the demolition of a building of historical, architectural, cultural or urban design value to the City; providing an opportunity for the public to comment on the demolition of a particular building; and minimizing the number and extent of building demolition where no immediate re-use of the site is planned.”
The Boston Landmarks Commission will make a determination on whether the building is significant enough—based on certain criteria— to hold a public demolition delay hearing, which would be scheduled within 30 days of the determination.