Say farewell to St. Gabe’s chapel — owner plans demolition

The chapel on the former St. Gabriel’s property purchased by Richard Hogan last year will be demolished.

Mr. Hogan and his attorney, William Fleming of East Hampton, said that despite a desire to save the chapel, it’s condition is too deteriorated to survive a move to the site where it was intended to be converted for use as a community center.

Mr. Fleming told the Planning Board Tuesday night that movers assessed the building and determined it was too flimsy to survive a move.
An inspection revealed it was likely to deteriorate and become an eyesore on the property if left in place, Mr. Hogan said.

Some windows and other parts of the chapel will be incorporated into a new building to be constructed on the site. Other windows will be offered to the Shelter Island Historical Society for preservation, Mr. Hogan said.

“When we studied the project more closely, we determined that the cost of [moving it] would be significantly greater than rebuilding the structure,” Mr. Hogan wrote in an email to Councilman Jim Colligan Wednesday following the Planning Board meeting.

The chapel has been deconsecrated for years and is not on the state or federal lists of historic places.

“I want a second opinion,” said resident John Kerr, who has questioned other aspects of the project from its first introduction last summer.

He had previously questioned whether a large oak tree had been removed from the property and said part of the property might be on designated wetlands where building would be prohibited.

Mr. Fleming said two environmental studies of the property have been conducted, one looking at the physical site and a second, more intensive study that revealed there was no problem with wetlands or with toxins on the site.

In July 2015, Mr. Hogan told the Planning Board the chapel was a building he could never destroy.“Nobody in my family would be comfortable knocking down a church,” he said.