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CONTROVERSIES involving landmark buildings, like those concerning endangered species and wilderness regions, invite the observation that when you've seen one, you've seen 'em all. Whether they revolve around tidal marshlands in New England, springs in the Ozarks or antique office buildings in St. Louis, such disputes have an awful lot in common.
Typically, as the drama unfolds, the protagonists wax rigid and doctrinaire. Tempers and friendships become frayed and are lost. The longer the matter continues and the more complicated it becomes, the greater the number of people drawn into the fracas, and the smaller the number who understand the fine details of what's going on - or care. Litigation often results. The struggle grows nasty, brutish and long. And, most of all, wearisome. Except among those who have an economic or strong emotional stake in the outcome, boredom sets in. Those of us who are in the business of reporting on these controversies find ourselves hard-pressed to inject some excitement into each new lurch and shudder in the progress of these disputes.
The still-raging controversy over St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in New York is a classic case. The protagonists are, on one side, an iron-willed rector, backed by the vestry and a bare majority of the flock, seeking to turn part of the church property over to a developer in return for a promise of $16.5 million in additional income.
On the other is the Committee To Oppose the Sale of St. Bartholomew's Church, headed by an equally iron-willed parishioner, a law yer named J. Sinclair Armstrong, and consisting of much of the rest of the congregation. A church member once characterized the disputants on both sides as "little old ladies of both sexes."
Arrayed on the sidelines as participating members of the audience are a variety of interests and institutions including the would-be developer; Ada Louise Huxtable, an editorial writer for The New York Times and dean of American architectural journalism; the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission; and the courts.
The dispute is now the subject of a book, "The Battle of St. Bart's" by Brent C. Brolin, being published this week (William C. Morrow; $18.95). An architect by training and writer on architecture with several books to his credit, Brolin is also...