US Armenians want to sell a 163-year-old church to complete construction of a new one

The owners of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church, located across from City Hall, at the intersection of Main and Winter streets in Haverhill (Massachusetts), want to sell the 163-year-old church and property to a developer intent on tearing it down and replacing it with a Burger King.

Church officials say they cannot afford the $1.5 million in needed repairs, and need the proceeds of the sale to complete construction of a new church off Route 125 near the North Andover line.

Scott Sahagian, chairman of the parish council for the new church — the Church at Hye Pointe — told the source that the commission's opposition amounts to "religious and ethnic" persecution.

“But without historic covenants, the commission has no business dictating what the church owners can do with their property,” reads the editorial.

The local Armenian community has been trying to build its new church for years. St. Gregory's congregation combined with Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church in Lawrence. The intent was to build a new Armenian church near the North Andover line across from Spring Hill Garden Center.

"We liquidated our church in Lawrence and are trying to do the same here," Sahagian told reporter Mike LaBella. "The foundation (for the new church) is in, the land is prepared and what we are missing is money. We've got a great location, easily accessible, and it can be built on a single floor, which is important to our elderly."

The Armenian community needs the money from the sale to complete its new church. The Historical Commission should not block their way.