When the Philadelphia Historical Commission gave their final approval for 8 townhomes on the site of the St. Laurentius church last May, you might have thought this was finally the end of their involvement in a saga which has dragged out for about a decade. But of course this case has another wrinkle. As part of that approval process, the Commission required that a public display commemorating the church be included as part of the project. Now it looks like the development team is ready to present their vision of the monument, with an application for a monument at 1600-06 E Berks St. posted to the Commission’s website this morning.

We’re looking forward to hearing more about the design when this project is heard by the Historical Commission (and maybe eventually the Art Commission too?), but for now we’re pretty excited by the plans and renderings from Canno Design. On top of a cornerstone salvaged from the old house of prayer will sit a bronze cast reproduction of the front of the building, taking advantage of a scan done on the structure before demolition. It’s undoubtedly a shame the last owners of the building didn’t do more to preserve building materials, but we’re happy to see the new ownership team using some preserved architectural elements in this new work.

In addition to the 6’1″ memorial sitting in front of the St. Laurentius Catholic School, a historic marker resembling those put up by the the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission will go up next door, though the exact wording will still need more consultation with stakeholders before being finalized.

After all these years, the old church will be remembered with a beautiful monument that will ensure its memory lives on as this pocket of Fishtown enters a new era. And maybe it’ll remind folks that the building could’ve been saved if opponents of re-purposing the vacant church had been willing to compromise. Discussion and approval of this memorial is on the August agenda for the Architectural Committee, after which it will go before the full Historical Commission in the coming months. Maybe we’ll hear some useful feedback the designers can use to better commemorate the lost historic church, or perhaps everyone will hop on board with the current monument plan. Either way, look for something to appear soon in front of the school that remains.