The Port Authority and St. Nicholas Church have been in dispute on and off ever since they signed an agreement to rebuild the church, which was destroyed by debris on 9/11, in 2008. The Port Authority agreed to pay $20 million toward the cost of putting up a new church on Liberty Street, near St. Nicholas's old home on Cedar Street. Then the church accused the Port Authority of digging on the old church site without permission. As part of a settlement between the two parties, they agreed to an independent engineering study of various possible church locations. One of those spots was the former Deutsche Bank site at 130 Liberty Street?and it will, in fact, be the home of the reconstructed church and of a non-denominational bereavement center, according to an agreement signed today by the Port Authority and church reps.
Any structural worries about the spot have been resolved, per a press release from the Port Authority: "The agreement follows a four-month independent engineering study commissioned by the Port Authority and the Archdiocese, which found that the Church could be built on the site with minor modifications to the original plan and with no impact on the World Trade Center construction schedule." The church will give up its 155 Cedar Street land in exchange, and as soon as the PA board gives the whole thing the thumbs-up, the court battle will be over.
· St. Nicholas Church coverage [Curbed]
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