Legendary newspaper editor John B. Bogart (who ruled over the New York Sun from 1873 to 1890) summed up journalism this way: “When man bites dog, that’s news.” Steps away from Bogart’s former headquarters at Chambers and Broadway, an even rarer — and more consequential — reversal of accustomed roles will take place tomorrow (Saturday, February 20), when a major owner of Lower Manhattan real estate will ask residents what they think should be done with a large and valuable piece of property.
An architect’s rendering of an earlier version of the plan for 74 Trinity Place.
Trinity Church, an august local house of worship that doubles as the steward of a billion-dollar patrimony of Lower Manhattan real estate (owning to pre-Revolutionary War gifts of land from the British crown) is in midst of deciding how to redevelop a half-acre plot it owns at 74 Trinity Place (just north of Rector Street). The building that has stood there since the 1920s is now being demolished. But the church is seeking a consensus vision for what will replace it.
Saturday’s meeting, which is open to anyone who cares to participate, is the fifth in a series of town hall meetings called, “charettes,” from an old French word that denotes a gathering at which ideas are shared, designs are shaped, consensus is formed, and a course of action mapped out. These meetings began exactly a year ago, and have included sessions devoted to brainstorming, rounds of questions and answers, and formulating lists of priorities. The first three charettes were held in February, March, and May of last year, and drew more than 100 participants each.
At the fourth charette, last November, Trinity’s rector, the Rev. Dr. Bill Lupfer, announced two preliminary decisions. First, the building that will rise at 74 Trinity Place will contain no apartments. This news may be greeted with relief by residents of the Financial District, which stands to gain more than 8,000 new residents in the next few years, due to construction of new apartment towers and conversion of existing office buildings to residential use. Dr. Luper explained that Trinity’s vestry (its governing board) had decided that, “that there will be the community center that we’ve been discussing in these charettes, with an office tower above it.” Second, he announced, the community center will not contain a gym or wellness facility. “I was already planning my workouts,” Dr. Lupfer said ruefully, “but our survey data showed that there was very little desire for it.”
Local residents gather at one of the charettes that the church is hosting, to gauge community needs for the building that will soon rise on Trinity Place.
The survey that Dr. Lupfer referred to was an opinion sampling conducted by the Gill-Wright Group, which specializes in gauging local demand for various kinds of proposed amenities. Michael J. Gill, one of the firm’s founders, presented the results of this survey, noting that, “an exercise facility at 74 Trinity might be attractive to a large number of people who work in nearby office buildings, but this might be an undesirable result for a parish house with a prime focus on parishioners, community programs for the needy, and the large numbers of families and youth in today’s Lower Manhattan.”
What facilities will be contained in the community center, and what kind of offices will be located above it, are questions on which Trinity is still seeking the guidance of people who live or work in Lower Manhattan.
“We need to have the kind of spaces that can be changed over time,” Dr. Lupfer said at the November 21 charette. “This neighborhood will be very different 30 years from now, but nobody knows how. So we’re trying to accommodate the changing needs of the future by building flexible space.”
Tomorrow’s session, which will focus on the budget for the new building, as well as possible design elements, will be held at St. Paul’s Chapel (209 Broadway, at the corner of Vesey Street), from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm. Light food will be served. This event is free and open to the public, and no R.S.V.P. is required. But Trinity requests (for planning purposes) that anyone planning to attend email Susana Perez at sperez@trinitywallstreet.org.
Matthew Fenton