Sacred Heart Church: One of NJ's endangered historic sites

[NON]

It's "famous" for yet one more reason.  I graduated from Sacred Heart school in 1970 and was active in the church. Through the summer of 1970  I was a lecter at Sunday Mass along with a classmate of mine named Joe Lane.  Joe went on to St Peter's prep and started working in theater.  He later changed his name to Nathan Lane.  Funny thing was his uncle John Lane owned a bar on Ocean Avenue and Bidwell called "Lane's Tavern". My father's generation thought that was the more famous of the two Lanes.

That's awesome, I knew he was from here but didn't realize he went to Sacred Heart. My cousin Anne used to act in the Prep plays with him when he was there. If you ever bump into him and want to see an amazing facial reaction from somebody, go up to him and call him "Joe Lane" - it's fascinating to watch.

[fdjoe]

It's "famous" for yet one more reason.  I graduated from Sacred Heart school in 1970 and was active in the church. Through the summer of 1970  I was a lecter at Sunday Mass along with a classmate of mine named Joe Lane.  Joe went on to St Peter's prep and started working in theater.  He later changed his name to Nathan Lane.  Funny thing was his uncle John Lane owned a bar on Ocean Avenue and Bidwell called "Lane's Tavern". My father's generation thought that was the more famous of the two Lanes.

[speaknj]

Most people would suggest another use for this beautiful building.  I believe this sacred structure should be dismantled and given to another Diocese that needs a Catholic Church.  The building was made for worship.
Yvonne

[MCA™]

LANDMARK IN PERIL
Sacred Heart one of state's endangered historic sites
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City's now closed Sacred Heart Church has been named one of the state's 10 most endangered historic sites yesterday by the nonprofit group Preservation New Jersey.

The church, on Bayview Avenue at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, was included on the list presented by Ron Emrich, director of the Preservation New Jersey, at a press conference yesterday at the Statehouse in Trenton.

In its heyday, the church had a congregation of 4,000 but closed in 2005 due to dwindling membership, Emrich said.

"Now deteriorating, the structure is a potential target for vandals," Emrich said. "It epitomizes the plight of urban places of worship whose congregations have dwindled."

The circa-1924 church was designed by Boston architect Ralph Adams Cram as a reaction against English and French Gothic architecture, said John Gomez, founder of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy and The Jersey Journal's Legends & Landmarks columnist.

"It is a wild mixture of Spanish Catholic and Moorish architecture," Gomez said.

The church also features much-lauded stained glass windows designed by the young Harry Wright Goodhue, completed when he was just 18 years old.

Gomez said he is concerned that with a Hudson-Bergen Light Rail station nearby and pressure for redevelopment in the area, the church could be demolished or remodeled.

Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark, which owns the church, said he was unable to say exactly what is planned for the church.

The site is also the location of Sacred Heart School, which has grades Kindergarten through eight.

© 2008  The Jersey Journal


Six short videos about the church by John Gomez, founder of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/c5ro3kGYttk&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/c5ro3kGYttk&amp;hl=en</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/i1-Rp02QGOQ&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/i1-Rp02QGOQ&amp;hl=en</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/NORwOdmlybI&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/NORwOdmlybI&amp;hl=en</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ra-3LxqNGmM&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/Ra-3LxqNGmM&amp;hl=en</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/2ldNWhJjuPI&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/2ldNWhJjuPI&amp;hl=en</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/3S0xScspXUM&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/3S0xScspXUM&amp;hl=en</a>

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