Residential developer buys former church in Oak Square

A West Roxbury developer has paid St. John's Seminary $4 cardinal for the erstwhile Presentation Church and its rectory and parking batch connected Washington Street successful Brighton's Oak Square.

Peter Davos, who grew up successful Brighton, has yet to accidental publically what helium plans for the 2.9 acres of onshore - astir 1.8 acres for the erstwhile religion and rectory grounds and 1.1 acres down a fractional artifact towards Newton for the parking lot, connected a broadside of the thoroughfare lined with ample single-family homes.

Over the weekend, his West Brighton Acquisitions wrapped the 2 parcels with greenish fencing and enactment a motion successful beforehand of the church: "Please pardon our quality portion we enactment connected our conception plan and architectural plans."

However, 1 happening helium can't enactment connected the onshore is an termination clinic. As a information of the sale, the seminary attached a covenant to the deeds for the 2 parcels saying that for the adjacent 99 years, the company.

[S]hall not usage oregon licence the usage of the Premises for (a) a church, chapel oregon different location of spiritual worship; (b) a installation astatine which abortions are performed;(c) the operations of nonrecreational counseling services which advocator abortion, euthanasia oregon suicide; (d) the operations of immoderate embryonic stem compartment probe installation oregon services implementing embryonic stem compartment probe oregon (e) a schoolhouse oregon acquisition installation serving children successful grades K-12.

The archdiocese besides prohibited a schoolhouse erstwhile it sold the church's shuttered simple schoolhouse to a assemblage radical successful 2007.

Davos is presently gathering a residential analyzable successful West Roxbury that volition see a 70-unit flat gathering and 18 townhouses.

Construction of Our Lady of the Presentation parish began successful 1913, designed by religion architects Maginnis and Walsh and was completed successful 1921. The archdiocese unopen it successful 2004 successful the aftermath of the clergyman sex-abuse scandal.

In 2011, the archdiocese sold it for $1 to St. John's Seminary, which began enactment to crook it into a lecture hallway and a library, successful portion with a $200,000 assistance from Carolyn and Peter Lynch.

In 2013, the seminary formally dedicated the caller St. John's Seminary Our Lady of the Presentation Lecture Hall and Library. At the time, the Boston Pilot reported, St. John's Seminary rector Msgr. James P. Moroney said it was bully to beryllium backmost successful Oak Square and that the caller gathering would assistance the seminary proceed to "form" priests "for decades to come."

But the seminary lone continued utilizing the buildings for a fewer much years.

The religion operation could usage immoderate work: