St. Mary's on the Hill - The End

Somewhere someone is smirking, fully delighted that St. Mary's on the Hill is finally gone...Hey jerk, you can retire now...Yep, a lot more damage has been done since these pictures were taken a few days ago...

Once concern was documented that the rectory...that roof way in back to the right (above)...was in hazardous condition...

...the bulldozers were out in force knocking down...the church......and then the school...

...before finally getting to the rectory. No reuse plan good enough for naysayers, no investigation into the feeble handoff from one slumlord to another...Well, there were a few of those...good intentions, bad intentions (no, I didn't forget who gutted the interior), same results... Maybe someone has big plans.  Maybe make a duty-free on that corner, sell it to the PBA, or better yet, a parking lot for the armory people....nothing against the armory, understand!

The Connecticut Street Armory is right next door, which was rebuilt after a fire...lived a few blocks away when that happened....a little suspense wondering if there were explosives inside...

The remains of the bell tower from a different angle....(yes, I like those window-framed shots)...

More photos from Tuesday evening here...I was fortunate to be there at the same time as Stan and Beth, so I walked around a bit more than I may have on my own. If you ever wondered what a gutted church looks like...

Curious that there's no word from any of the former parishioners.  Maybe they were all in their 90's and their grandkids could care less.  Maybe they did the grief thing in 1995 when it closed and don't want to look back.  Turned the Church Home and Hutchinson Chapel on Rhode Island and Busti out to pasture too, with no grass...How cold.

Pity no one ever told all the people who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to build beautiful places of worship that in the future the church "leaders" would scoff at their efforts...."it's only a building"...

Pictures from a few years ago, through the demo of the bell tower in pouring rain to the above pictures are here, also with a link on the side.  I'll probably be adding a few more from the Memorial/Protest Art-In tomorrow morning, so check back.

Until then, hum along with the Doors...this is The End...