Preserving this church with its beautiful architecture is something all Lakewoodites should support.

Lakewood City Council took up two pieces of legislation at its recent Sept. 9 meeting to support St. James Church and preserve it and other historic structures. Councilmen Kevin Butler (Ward 1) and Tom Bullock (Ward 2) teamed up with Mayor Ed FitzGerald to introduce a resolution supporting the Friends of St. James Parish’s appeals to keep the church open as well as an ordinance to expand the scope of Lakewood’s historic preservation law to include public interior portions of historic properties. The Cleveland Catholic Diocese has announced plans to close the parish by next summer.

The resolution was passed unanimously by Council on the night it was introduced, while the proposed expansion of historic preservation laws was referred to a committee for further deliberations. If adopted into law, and if St. James Church were to be designated by the city as a historic property, the church and its artwork could be protected from alteration or demolition.

“We believe the city should do everything it can to support the parishioners of St. James in their efforts to keep the parish a viable presence in Lakewood, as it has been for now more than a century,” said Councilman Butler.

“If we lose St. James church we lose part of what makes Lakewood unique,” said Councilman Bullock. “This is important to Catholics and non-Catholics alike, because the parishioners of St. James are friends and neighbors to all of us and because the church building itself is an irreplaceable architectural gem.”

“St. James is a vital Lakewood institution,” said Mayor FitzGerald. “We want to do everything we can to support the parish and also preserve its historic and beautiful architecture.”

St. James is scheduled to close in 2010. The Friends of St. James have appealed to the Vatican and the Diocese of Cleveland to keep the parish a viable presence in Lakewood. St. James is the largest parish in Lakewood by member and household; it has the highest weekly attendance in its cluster of parishes and it performs the most baptisms and marriages of Lakewood’s Catholic churches. Supporters note the church has been pledged enough money by donors to cover its most pressing capital needs, including the cost of repairing its roof and that, in a year, the parish has gained in membership by 224 households. St. James also hosts a successful day care center and the popular Lakewood Family Room, run by the City’s Division of Early Childhood Development.

Members of the public have written in support of preserving the historic parish and church.

“Not every town can boast such beauty as Lakewood can in St. James Church,” said one St. James supporter. “I lived several years in Europe and marveled at the rich heritage and culture that is so well preserved and passed down generation to generation, [and I] have often wished that we as Americans were also as careful to preserve our heritage as we are in our pursuits of growth and modernization.”