Renovations are underway at St. Barbara’s in Bushwick

Eye on Real Estate

November 1, 2017 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Here's a glimpse of St. Barbara's Roman Catholic Church, where exterior masonry repairs are getting underway. Eagle photos by Lore Croghan

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Gloria in Excelsis Deo.

Preservation-minded Brooklynites rejoice! St. Barbara’s is being renovated.

On Oct. 13, the city Buildings Department issued a permit for exterior masonry repairs at this one-of-a-kind Catholic church.

The property is located on the corner of Central Avenue and Bleecker Street in Bushwick.

When we made a visit to it the other day, sunshine lit up the construction netting that covers the front of the church and made it transparent. Through the gauzy veil, we saw workers up on the scaffolding beneath the netting.

For what seems like Biblical eons, there has been scaffolding in place at the landmarked church at 138 Bleecker St. Now the fix-up is finally happening.

Why should you care about this church? Because it’s a Spanish Colonial Revival-style marvel.

Spanish Colonial Revival-style, but built by German immigrants

We’ve seen photos of the church that were taken when it wasn’t covered by scaffolding. It’s magnificent.

St. Barbara’s Roman Catholic Church looks like it belongs in Cartagena, Colombia or some other south-of-the-border city where Spanish Colonial-era architecture flourishes.

But here it is, in Bushwick — in a parish that was founded by German immigrants, who were the predominant population in the neighborhood at the time of its construction.

The church was built in 1907 to 1910.

It is made of butter-yellow brick and white terra cotta. Twin bell towers flanking the front door on Central Avenue, both 175 feet tall, are topped by cupolas and crosses. There are elaborately decorated columns all over the place.

On the Bleecker Street side of the building, there’s a beautiful dome. This part of the building is only partly hidden from sight by a sidewalk shed, so you can get a pretty good look at it.

The interior is glorious. We took photos of it the other day — after morning Mass, of course, so we didn’t disturb worshippers.

When you’re inside, the dome is dazzling. The arched ceiling is divinely decorated. The altar is a thing of beauty.

Helmle & Huberty were the architects

St. Barbara’s was designed by distinguished architectural firm Helmle & Huberty. It designed many important public structures such as the Boathouse in Prospect Park.

According to the city Landmarks Preservation Commission’s designation report about the church, Spanish Colonial Revival architecture was “fairly uncommon” in the Northeastern United States at the time of St. Barbara’s construction.

The style is based on the architecture of 16th- and 17th-century Spain.

The fact that St. Barbara’s is a city landmark is another reason for preservation-minded Brooklynites to say Glory Hallelujah.

It was a Backlog95 building — one of 95 historic sites that languished in limbo for decades on the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s calendar for designation consideration. A couple years ago, the preservation agency was going to erase the sites from its calendar but changed course after public outcry. Instead, the sites were given fast-track consideration.

St. Barbara’s had been on the agency’s calendar since 1980.

In December 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted to make it a landmark — despite the objections of the Diocese of Brooklyn. St. Barbara’s protected status means it cannot be demolished or have its exterior altered without the LPC’s approval.