Historic church complex set to continue 'Lord's work'

WILMINGTON The fate of a landmark church complex, historic and massive, but long vacant, is a mystery no more.

After years facing an uncertain future including possible sale for shopping development, the Cathedral Church of St. John at North Market Street and Concord Avenue, will continue to host the Lord’s work.

So say leaders of the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware that owns the site, the Ministry of Caring that is acquiring it and folks in the Brandywine Village neighborhood, where worries grew during its continued vacancy that a bad decision about its future could have been disastrous for the community.

The Ministry of Caring, a nonprofit known for its Emmanuel Dining Room network to feed the needy, plans to convert the stately stone church and office building into much-needed housing for moderate- and lower-income elderly residents.

“The sacredness of this place, which gave honor and glory to God, will continue to serve Him in its ministry to the poor,” said the Right Rev. Wayne P. Wright, bishop of the statewide diocese.

“We see this as a great use for this facility and a way to continue serving the needs of the community,” he said. “We’re very happy about it.”

Gov. Jack Markell praised the project, saying Ministry of Caring founder and executive director Brother Ronald Giannone has "made a powerful case" for the plan's ability to serve the needs of moderate- and lower-income seniors.

The plan would change the land's use for the first time in centuries.

The prominent corner was the home of a Revolutionary-era inn called the Green Tree Tavern. There, workers who made and repaired wooden barrels would drink, play shuffleboard or handball in a walled courtyard and get into fights on heavy-drinking Saturday nights, historian Carol Hoffecker wrote in her book “Brandywine Village.”

In 1856, Alexis I. du Pont, son of DuPont Co. founder E.I. du Pont, chose the site for a new church.

“It pleased his sense of symbolism,” Hoffecker wrote , “to replace the old inn, which he regarded as a den of iniquity, with a sacred edifice.”

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the church was built in 1857-58 of stone quarried in Alapocas, designed to look like an English country parish.

The parish hall was built in 1885, while a 1919 expansion added the parsonage and a chapel off the original altar. In 1952, a spacious and well-equipped kitchen was added, with distinctive arches that echo the church design by Philadelphia architect John Notman.

Over intervening decades, the 4,300-square-foot parsonage was converted into office space and a large parking lot was added on a lot across Concord Avenue.

After more than a decade as a leading Episcopal church, the congregation's size shrank as maintenance became ever more expensive.

The church was closed in 2012, the bishop said, after “it became apparent that we were not going to be able to continue this congregation.”

“Members,” he said, “played an important role in making that decision.”

Aside from remaining members joining other congregations, the church’s closure involved a pair of key moves.

Cremated remains interred in the church’s memorial Garden of Praise were moved to Christ Church in Greenville, Wright said.

And the noted Cathedral Choir School was moved to the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew & Matthew at Eighth and Shipley streets, where the program is thriving, he added.

The last move was finding a new use for the church.

The diocese listed it for sale – at $1.6 million.

Last year, the nonprofit Delaware Community Foundation, interested not only in the cathedral's reuse but also the revival of the Brandywine Village area, organized a tour of the site for a variety of philanthropists, developers, elected officials and others — generating a lot of interest in the site.

Despite its formidable price tag, there “many inquiries” from a variety of quarters, the bishop said.

Although the nonprofit Food Bank of Delaware last year had confirmed its interest in the site, the church declined to identify its suitors, except for the successful one.

The diocese is supporting the plan by cutting the price by more than half, to $651,800, to be paid for with a grant from the Longwood Foundation.

Wright said the Ministry of Caring offered "the right plan" with the track record to make it a reality.

Begun with a small shelter for homeless women, the Ministry of Caring has grown to 39 other properties and 19 programs citywide, with its Sacred Heart Village as a model of affordable senior housing.

Its project to transform the church site — with a total price tag nearing $15.7 million — has support not only from the state, but also from the county, city and area legislators, Giannone said. A market study also showed plenty of need for housing including moderate to lower income seniors and the working poor age 62 and older, he said.

Apartments will be offered at fair market value, with the only exception  being veterans who have federal vouchers, Giannone said. The church's main sanctuary will be kept as a gathering area similar to that at Cokesbury Village in Hockessin and the small St. Mary's Chapel, off its altar area, would be maintained as "an inter-religious chapel where all may worship," he said.

With 53 units expected to total 116 residents, he also envisions the project as "the spark that lights the fire" for economic redevelopment needed in the area that once bustled with small businesses.

Giannone envisions a couple of sit-down restaurants, pizzeria, sub and sandwich shop, dry cleaner, florist — maybe more — in existing buildings that already have street-level storefronts and upper residential space.

Ultimately, he would like to see the project lead a broader renaissance of the historic area, which could serve as an ideal gateway to the city.

"It's going to be a very challenging project," Giannone said.

He aims to apply next summer for Low Income Housing Tax Credit Equity funds of about $4.8 million and $2.65 million in housing development funds through the Delaware State Housing Authority. Also projected are historic tax credit equity funds, equal to 30 percent of gross expenses paid at a project's end, of roughly $1.4 million from the federal government and nearly $1.9 million from the state. Delaware's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is expected to cover the $625,000 for environmental abatement through its Brownfield Program.

In addition to Longwood Foundation funds to buy the site, Giannone lists $200,000 from the Welfare Foundation, $300,000 received from JPMorgan Chase with that much more expected, and $90,000 from TD Bank.

Additional commitments of $300,000 from the city and $400,000 from the county leave the remaining fundraising total at just over $2.02 million, he said.

If all goes well, he said, the property will change hands in September or October next year.

The creation of the "Village of St. John" will transform a site Giannone has seen since shortly after he arrived in Wilmington in the 1970s.

He was a regular at Hearn’s Restaurant across North Market Street, but not to eat. There, Jim Teoli gave him food for residents of the ministry’s first program, the city's only shelter for homeless women. "That’s how I fed the women at Mary Mother of Hope House,” Giannone said.

And every time he picked up food, he saw the church. “I always thought it was beautiful, really stately and magnificent,” he said, Giannone he never would have thought the site would become part of the ministry.

As Giannone walked through the church with the Bishop Wright not long ago, talking about the site’s future, the brown-robed Capuchin Franciscan friar – who recently celebrated 25 years of priesthood – seemed much as he did sitting decades ago in an abandoned city fire station.

Just as Giannone long ago described the Emmanuel Dining Room he would create in the long-vacant building at Second and Jackson streets, he envisioned every aspect of the former church becoming part of a residential complex – even where each room will go, and whether it will be a single or a double.

"Just look at this beautiful woodwork," he said, sweeping into one room. "We plan to keep it all."

Entering another room, he said, "These windows are tremendous and every one will be kept." So will the stained glass windows and other historic assets.

Much of the sanctuary itself will be kept for communal space, as would the small chapel off its altar.

The project also would complete part of the church complex's original plan, with a new building where open space was left on the 2.6-acre site for its construction, west of the existing cathedral. The new construction also would have the advantage of being created with architectural accessibility for those with disabilities, he said.

“Everything adds to the ingredients of making this a real village,” Giannone said, adding there will be security, needed services, case management and more, including a sense of community.

Longtime area resident Albert Rice, 83, who lives across Tatnall Street from the church, said many who live in the area were worrying about the site’s future and what it will mean for the neighborhood.

The church was so important for so long, he said, “I was surprised they decided to let it go.”

But he said he and others were glad to hear not only of the site’s intended new use, but also of who is behind the plan.

“The Ministry of Caring will make it work out and keep it right,” he said.

Community leaders also support the proposal.

"I think it should be a good addition to the neighborhood," said Kathleen Patterson, president of the 2nd District Neighborhood Planning Council.

The entire project, Giannone said, will be guided by the basic principle that has steered every aspect of the Ministry of Caring.

"That," he said, "is that the poor should not be treated poorly."

This coverage contains material originally reported by staff reporter Maureen Milford.

Contact robin brown at (302) 324-2856 or rbrown@delawareonline.com. Find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @rbrowndelaware.

HOW TO HELP

Tax-deductible donations for the project may be sent in checks payable to The Village of St. John, in care of the Ministry of Caring, 506 N. Church St., Wilmington, DE 19801.

For more information about the nonprofit ministry's numerous sites, programs and services for the poor and homeless — including volunteer opportunities and needed donations — visit www.ministryofcaring.org or call Priscilla Rakestraw at its main administrative office at (302) 428-3702.