Asbury Park Holy Spirit Church demolition looms, but developer hopes it can be saved

ASBURY PARK - Following a recent court ruling, the city Planning Board approved a resolution to demolish the 114-year-old Holy Spirit Church in favor of six residential homes.

The planning board voted 4-0 to authorize the resolution approving the demolition of the church and approving the preliminary major subdivision application of JLD Investment Group LLC at the Dec. 18 meeting.

"All options are still on the table," said Joseph Hanna, co-founder and president of the current property owner, Mountain View Development.

A copy of the resolution can be seen at the end of this story.

The developer initially wanted to build residential units inside the closed Gothic church, which would have included a public space featuring modern art from local artists, but the city rejected those plans. Then he proposed tearing it down to be replaced by homes, only to be rejected by the planning board. He then filed suit.

On Oct. 31, the court ruled to vacate the Asbury Park Planning Board's denial of the application and grant relief to the developer's plan, because it conformed with city ordinances, giving the board no legal reason to reject it.

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The church is located on the northwestern corner of the intersection of Second Avenue and Bond Street, less than one mile from the Asbury Park Boardwalk. Existing structures on the 1.1-acre lot include the two-story church, a three-story residential building (the rectory) and a detached brick garage.

"There was a motion to deny the application, the majority of those (planning board members) voted in favor of the denial," board attorney Jack A. Serpico told the Asbury Park Press. "There was an appeal and the judge essentially reversed it by telling the board to go back, revisit it and approve it. There is court order saying to approve it. So that is essentially a reversal."

He added that the adopted resolution includes that the application is granted preliminary approval as it was presented.

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Hanna said he is holding out hope a plan could arise that would save the church structure, adding that "the building has not come down yet."

"We are obviously still moving in our correct steps but all options are still on the table. There is still time," Hanna said. "We are still going to be moving forward but that doesn't mean that something can't change. We are still being optimistic about this."

Hanna added that he has spoken with members of the city council "in hopes that we can work out a resolution with the city for an alternate style development."

The property was previously owned by Holy Spirit Church, which was overseen by the Catholic Diocese of Trenton.

For decades, the church served Asbury Park’s Roman Catholic community. However, in recent years, the parish confronted several challenges, including declining church attendance and financial difficulties.

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Earlier this year, attorney Thomas De Seno filed a lawsuit against the Trenton Diocese to stop the destruction of the church. He was identified as an objecting party in the resolution and believes the property will get sold before the church is demolished.

"The developer will never knock down the church because it is too expensive. They're bluffing. They threaten to destroy the church like a kidnapper threatens to kill a hostage. The ransom they want is for the city to allow their other plan to gut the church and erect dozens of condors inside," De Seno said.

"That plan is illegal because that neighborhood isn't zoned for that much gentrifying density," he continued. "So the city should call their bluff and say no to changing the law. The developer will sell the church, and there are buyers who will give them more than they paid. Everyone wins."

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Holy Spirit School closed in 1980 due to low enrollment numbers. Then the Holy Spirit parish began to eliminate certain ministries. Most recently, in 2014, the Holy Spirit parish merged with two nearby parishes to form the Church of Mother Mercy Parish.

After the merger, Mercy Parish retained and operated two houses of worship in Asbury Park; Holy Spirit Church and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. In October 2020, Mother Mercy Parish announced that Holy Spirit would be closed and sold.

Representatives of the Mother Mercy Parish explained that they simply could not continue to financially support and maintain two separate churches and the only way to continue serving Asbury Park was to consolidate operations. Proceeds from the sale of the church will be used to make much-needed capital improvements to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and the Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, according to the lawsuit.

Church services were last held at Holy Spirit in 2021.

The Holy Spirit Church is currently vacant and pursuant to Roman Catholic faith restrictions can never be reconsecrated or used as a Roman Catholic Church again.

Holy Spirit resolution by denpcar on Scribd

Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park Holy Spirit Church demolition approved; can it be saved?