St. Patrick’s demolition fight heats up

WATERVLIET A grass-roots group went to court again Monday to attempt to stop the demolition of St. Patrick's Church as crews began tearing apart walls along the church stairs.

Citizens for St. Patrick's filed a lawsuit against the city of Watervliet to force the Zoning Board of Appeals to hear an appeal seeking to overturn the demolition permits given Nigro Companies to knock down the historic church.

Rosemary Nichols, a former city official and an attorney for Citizens for St. Patrick's, said the group would seek an order Tuesday to stop any further demolition before the lawsuit can be heard.

The case is assigned to Acting State Supreme Court Justice Kimberly A. O'Connor. Last week, O'Connor rejected motions to halt demolition work while another case challenging the rezoning of the church property was pending.

City attorneys reviewed the group's appeal to the ZBA over the weekend before determining that there was no legal reason for the zoning board to hear the matter.

"I have advised the building inspector that the ZBA does not have jurisdiction under the city code to hear an appeal of the issuance of the demolition permits," the city's special counsel, Paul Goldman, said in a letter sent over the weekend to the citizens organization.

"They don't have a stay. We're going ahead," said John Nigro, president of Nigro Companies, before the citizens group returned to court.

The citizens group is seeking to halt the razing of the church, rectory and school. The buildings must be cleared away in order to build a 40,200-square-foot Price Chopper supermarket and two smaller commercial buildings on the 3.5-acre site on 19th Street.

Dan's Hauling and Demo is preparing to raze the buildings for the developer.

Asbestos removal must be completed and the underground conduits carrying creeks through the site marked and protected from damage during demolition.

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St. Patrick's demolition fight heats up