St. Saviour’s stood proudly on Maspeth Hill for over 160 years. The church was literally hours away from being demolished on March 20, 2008, when Juniper Park Civic Association President, Robert Holden spoke with the developer face-to-face and got him to agree to donate the building as long as JPCA removed it from the site within 30 days. The battle to save St. Saviour's, built in 1847 by Maspeth pioneers and designed by world renowned architect, Richard Upjohn, had been going on for more than two years.

The historic building was disassembled and saved thanks to the expertise and additional funding from the New York Landmarks Conservancy, Christabel Gough, Juniper Park Civic Association and emergency funding from Borough President Helen Marshall. The 1847 Carpenter Gothic structure was painstakingly labeled and carefully packed in two trailers and now sits in Maspeth.

“I am pleased to lend this vital support to the Juniper Park Civic Association that provides front-line services to the residents of Queens and our City,” said Borough President Marshall.

“This is fantastic news and another chapter in the miraculous story of St. Saviour’s,” said Holden. It should be noted that several historic Queens structures have been successfully relocated and renovated, including the Latimer House and Kingsland Homestead in Flushing.

In addition to Borough President Helen Marshall and Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, the Juniper Park Civic Association would especially like to thank Christabel Gough, from the Society for the Architecture of the City; Christina Wilkinson, Newtown Historical Society; Tony Nunziato, Maspeth Middle Village Task Force; Ann-Isabel Friedman, Director, Sacred Sites Program for NY Landmarks Conservancy; Kaitsen Woo, Architect for St. Saviour’s; Alexandra Rosa, Mark Scott, and Karen Koslowitz from the Borough President’s office; Dan Austin, president of All Faiths Cemetery and Dan Austin, Jr. President of All Faiths Restoration and Beautification Inc.

Community’s Help Needed
Now the real work begins to reconstruct St. Saviour’s. The Juniper Park Civic Association will supervise the reconstruction of the St. Saviour’s building. In 1847 Maspeth residents raised the funds to build St. Saviour’s on Maspeth Hill near the Newtown Creek in Maspeth. Volunteers even dug the foundation and collected large boulders. The same effort will be needed to rebuild St. Saviour’s at its new home on 69th Street corner Juniper Valley Road.

Preservationist Christabel Gough has helped set up an organization called Save St. Saviour’s Inc. (SSSI) a 501(c)(3) to raise funds to rebuild the church in our community. JPCA president Robert Holden was elected president of SSSI and Christabel Gough, vice president. Maspeth civic leader and JPCA board member, Tony Nunziato, was elected treasurer.

Ways to Help the Rebuilding Effort
A future gift that is thoughtfully planned allows you to combine your personal financial objectives with your charitable giving goals.

When you give a monetary gift, the results are immediate. If you itemize your deductions on your personal federal income tax return, you can make a charitable gift deduction for the amount of your cash gift.

Your gift will help preserve our neighborhood’s history, and you may be able to deduct up to 50% of your adjusted gross income on your federal income tax return. If you can’t take the entire deduction in the first year because of tax limitations, you may carry the balance forward for the next five years. But always check with your tax specialist.

Please call us at 718-651-5865 or write: Save St. Saviour’s Inc. c/o Juniper Park Civic Association, Inc. PO Box 790275 Middle Village, NY 11379 to inquire about the many ways you can help rebuild St. Saviour's.

We would like to thank you for your gift and add your name to the donor list which will be inscribed on the restored St. Saviour’s building.