July 10, 2024
Media Statement:
A Step Towards Saving Our Sacred Sites
Preservation Buffalo Niagara (PBN) is proud to announce a significant step forward in our Save Our Sacred Sites initiative, a campaign dedicated to preserving Buffalo’s historic churches facing closure by the Catholic Diocese. This initiative is a proactive effort to secure local landmark status for at-risk places of worship, ensuring their protection and continued contribution to our community’s character and heritage.
We are pleased to notify the public that we have submitted landmark applications for St. John Kanty Church, St. Stanislaus B&M Church, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church to the Buffalo Preservation Board for their July 11th meeting. These churches are exemplary candidates for local landmark status, each meeting the criteria outlined in Buffalo’s Preservation Ordinance. Their architectural beauty and historical significance make them irreplaceable assets to our city’s built environment.
In the weeks ahead, PBN will submit three additional landmark applications at the next Preservation Board meeting on July 25th, the final session before the board’s August hiatus. We remain committed to safeguarding these sacred sites and invite the community to support our efforts in preserving Buffalo’s historic ecclesiastical architecture.
Donate here to our SoSS initiative today. If you see your church on here or would like to donate to our general fund, it will help us do more local landmark applications. Each one costs us about $2500 with labor, meetings, research, printing and more. So far we have raised nearly $7,000 to this effort – thank you to everyone who has donated!
You can read more about upcoming church closures here : https://www.wivb.com/buffalo-catholic-church-close-merge/complete-list-of-catholic-churches-buffalo-diocese-plans-to-close-or-merge/
Learn more about the Save our Sacred Sites initiative here: https://www.wivb.com/buffalo-catholic-church-close-merge/complete-list-of-catholic-churches-buffalo-diocese-plans-to-close-or-merge/
I live in TN and would appreciate what it would mean to the parishes that would obtain historic landmark status. Are they to remain open and active Catholic churches? Or be closed and unable to be sold? Any clarification is appreciated.