Pizza shop, strip mall eyed for historic Armenian church

PanARMENIAN.Net - A strip mall and a Domino's Pizza may replace a historic Armenian church building in Haverhill, Massachusetts, the Eagle-Tribune reports.

William Pillsbury, the city's economic and development director, said a business owner dropped off drawings to the building inspector's office showing a Domino's and a small strip mall. But Pillsbury said a formal, complete application has not yet been submitted to the city for review.

He said that as part of the process, the city's Historical Commission would review the project to determine if it is appropriate because the church is on the National Register of Historic Places and is in the Main Street Historic District. Only after that would a public hearing be held, Pillsbury said.

Leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Church at Hye Pointe, which owns the former St. Gregory the Illuminator Apostolic Church, have said they want to sell the building to help fund construction of a new church in Bradford.

The Church at Hye Pointe formed in 2002 when St. Gregory the Illuminator and Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church in Lawrence merged, Eagle-Tribune says.

E. Phillip Brown, interim chairman of the Haverhill Historical Commission, said the commission serves in an advisory capacity and is concerned about the circa 1848 church being replaced by a Domino's.

The site of the church is where Haverhill's settlers once held town meetings, according to local historians.