Church Bell or Wrecker's Ball for Seton?

By Clif Shelby, North County News, Vol. 2 No. 47, May 7 -13, 1980

Everyone seems to know by now that Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Mohegan is building a new church next to the Seton School on East Main Street in Shrub Oak; the congregation's fund raising efforts have been well publicized for months.

What no one seems to know is the fate of the 67-year-old stone church which currently serves the 2125 families who belong to the parish. It seems like a prime candidate for preservation as a historic building, but so far neither church officials nor the town have made any plans for the building's future.

The building was designed by the firm of George Heins, the first architect for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. It is designed in the style of the old Catholic churches of Normandy, France and was originally called Saint George's.

"I have no idea what we're going to do with the building," said church pastor Monsignor Arthur Nugent Tuesday. He declined to give any information on what the congregation or the Catholic Church might be planning to do with the building. "We haven't made any plans at all," he said.

The town Landmarks Preservation Committee can ask the Town Board to designate things like buildings, highways, natural objects, dams or geographical areas as historic landmarks. The landmark does not necessarily have to be old to be a landmark, but must have some historic significance. The Davenport House on Croton Heights Road is a county historic landmark, and the Yorktown Heights railroad depot is a town historic landmark. The committee has not looked into the landmark status of the Seton Church, but will discuss it at its meeting next Tuesday, a committee member said this week.