Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Environment The Church of CVS?
Posted by Mary Cashiola on Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 10:45 AM
CVS has an agreement with the National Trust for Historic Preservation to not demolish any buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, of which the church, locally across the street from an Ike's, is one.
"Last Friday, we got the paperwork to verify it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. We thought we were heading into the clear," says Memphis Heritage head June West. "Lately, CVS isn't returning calls, and we haven't seen any movement locally [to pull the demolition permit.]"
With that in mind, members of Memphis Heritage plan to attend the next Land Use Control Board meeting, tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the City Council chambers, to speak against the proposal.
West says the reasons for preserving the church are many.
"It already presents the good urban design we want to see in the Midtown Overlay," West says. "It's on an urban corner; it's pulled up to the street; and it complements Playhouse on the Square."
In addition, she says there are other options besides demolition.
"Other people are interested in purchasing the church and want to restore it."
West hasn't been in the building in years, but has seen recent photos.
"It's clear that there's not an outrageous amount of structural damage," West says. "It's gorgeous."
(I've tagged this under "environment" — the built environment.)
Photos by Leigh Gilliland.
Comments (9)
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I've never cared for the church building personally (always thought it was rather ugly). If all CVS wants to do is tear it down to put up a suburban style type store, why don't they purchase the Ike's property? If they are just dead set on the church property, then I would like to hope that they would build up close to the street much like the current foot print.
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That's what I want to know. Ike's isn't going to be there forever, and it's sitting on a good lot with easy access from Cooper and Union. It seems like the ideal space for CVS.
Walgreens isn't going to sell Ike's to CVS... It's part of their grand "how saturated can we get this market?" experiment.
Has anyone broached the topic of design with CVS or is everybody still stuck in "don't tear it down" mode?
I keep hearing there are interested buyers who want to restore it... any more information about them? That's my neighborhood. Just because someone's saying they won't tear it down doesn't mean they're also going to be a positive presence. Wish I could go Thursday, but I have a prior commitment.
The Church building is an eyesore. It serves no purpose other than to remind sentimental liberals of the past. I find it Hilarious that June West hasn't been inside the building for years....... yet she tries to imply that she loves it.
I also didn't know that West could look at pictures and declare that a building is structurally sound. I AM AMAZED AT HER SKILLS.
To be honest, I don't have a lick of respect for June West and consider her cancerous to the future success of Memphis. What I find most repulsive about her is that it seems the only time she comes to the aid of these buildings is when she smells the scent of someone else's money. She's like a geriatric caucasian version of Al Sharpton!
I WOULD have respect for her if she spent time actually visiting these buildings, putting a business prospectus together and bringing like-minded investment to what she claims to love.
But she does none of that. She sits on her carcass and then tries to convince companies that already have a fixed and precise business model, to just drop eveything they know, to accept her goofy ideas.
If you don't like CVS type businesses tearing down old buildings, fine. Then DO something about it. Raise money, raise interest, find angels who love the same heritage.
By the time a CVS is expressing interest in a property, it's already too late.
On principle alone CVS needs to take the wrecking ball to this albatross. The sooner people start treating Memphis Heritage like fringe kooks and not givng them the time of day, the better off Memphis will be.
Here's to more and more wrecking balls at Overton Dump. The place really is an eyesore.
TV: I love you, man, but you're the LAST person who should be throwing stones about "fringe kooks," "goofy ideas" or even "geriatric caucasians."
Come to think of it, same thing goes for being an eyesore and serving no useful purpose (though I do think your comedic value is redemptive).
For my money, one June West is worth a hundred Tommy V's (heaven forbid). Left to you, Memphis would be a stark, barren landscape, full of ugly (yet modern) strip shopping centers, big box stores and parking lots.
By the way, historic preservation isn't just for "sentimental liberals." Republican presidents have promoted historic renovation. Gerald Ford signed the law that instituted historic renovation tax credits in 1976. Same for Ronnie Ray-gun in 1981. George Bush (your hero) gave the National Trust for Historic Preservation (mentioned in this story) the prestigious National Humanities Medal in 2001. They weren't "sentimental liberals," were they?
Please try to remember, my bombastic bud, the root of the word "conservative" is "conserve."
Lived near the church most of my life, not one of my fav's. In fact I've always though how down right ugly that place is. Has anyone actually been to a service there since the 70's? Personally I don't see a new church moving in. I'd rather see a business that will actually use the property, generate taxes and local jobs build a new building that would fit in mid-town. Not to mention CVS Caremark is my perscription insurance....right around the corner...nice!
B - I think the point in the strong "don't tear it down" approach is to get the attention of the developer, then they can discuss design.
I can't imagine that this building would suit any growing congregation that is following the trend of more family-oriented space, outside of just the sanctuary and classroom spacing. If my church suddenly need to move to a new space, this building would not suit us at all. We are a 1200-1500 member congregation. Maintenance costs on this building would be outrageous.
But the main reason is that there is simply no parking to accomodate our need.
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