Swedenborgen Chapel Named Historical Site

The Swedenborg Chapel escaped the wrecking ball at last night's Cambridge City Council meeting as the council voted unanimously to make the chapel a historical landmark upon the recommendation of the Cambridge Historical Commission.

"It was a slam dunk from the beginning. We just had to make it happen," said Michael L. Charney, acting chair of the Save Swedenborg Chapel Coalition.

The chapel's designation as a protected landmark effectively ends a Somerville real estate developer's plans to demolish the building.

Frank Fodera, who made a $2.7 million offer to the Swedenborg School of Religion to buy the chapel in February, reportedly planned to raze the bulk of the chapel and build a housing development.

But due to last night's decision, the chapel's four walls, all visible to the public, may not be destroyed or blocked from view. The Historical Commission must also approve any further development on the site.

Rarely an advocate for historical landmarking, a University official appeared before the council to encourage the city to save the chapel.

"We [the University] share the concerns of the community and support the community's interest in land-marking the site," said Mary H. Power, director of the University's community relations with Cambridge.

This is not the last of the threats to the Swedenborg however. The historical landmark designation does not, for instance, protect the interior of the church.

"There will always be the danger of people finding loopholes," said James M. Williamson, a member of the coalition who fears the congregation is still in jeopardy of losing its home.

The Historical Commission did not include the annex of the chapel--where the congregation's Sunday school meets--under the landmark designation. The annex, built in the 1960s, is home to the reverend's office.

Sullivan said the Historical Commission would be open to developers replacing the annex with a building of comparable size.

Meanwhile, the council adopted a motion requesting the Law Department and the Historical Commission to conduct a study on the possibility of designating interiors as historical landmarks.

Although Harvard supports the land-marking of the exterior of the chapel, Power said the University would not necessarily be in support of a measure allowing the city to designate any building's interior a historical landmark.

"It could potentially discourage adaptive reuse of historic properties," Power said. "Many of Harvard's properties are historic. If the landmark were to include the interior space, it might make it more difficult for Harvard to support land-marking in the future."

According to Charles M. Sullivan, chair of the Historical Commission, the commonwealth of Massachusetts only allows Boston building interiors to be designated as landmarks.

Until that happens, the building, if sold by a financially strapped School of Religion, could still cease to be a church.

The congregation has the right of first refusal; it has a certain amount of time to purchase the property after an offer has been made by an outside source. If the congregation refuses, the University also has the option to buy the chapel at the offered price.

"We certainly would prefer for Harvard to own it rather than a private developer," Charney said.