St. Martin's Apartments...a saintly presence?

If you've lived in the area anytime over the last several years you have undoubtedly heard of the debacle that has surrounded the construction of a housing complex at the former St' Martin's Convent School site. I won't rehash the battle royale that occurred...you can check out the links below to learn more, although I believe these links are just a sampling of the media coverage that has been devoted to this project.

http://www.stmartinsdc.org/apartments.cfm

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2010/01/12/st-martins-apartments-an-update/

http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2008/11/17/daily75.html

http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2007/10/catholic-charities-will-break-ground-in.html

http://bloomingdaleneighborhood.blogspot.com/2006/02/st-martins-apartments-community-update.html

It's safe to say though there was/is a lot of money riding on this project from the city, Feds, etc. and it had the patina of a social justice project in action...whether long term benefits will accrue to the neighborhood however is still in doubt. As the last article from City Paper points out, the project is slated for completion in late 2010 and probably won't be reasonably occupied until end of Q1 2011. Despite the PR out of St. Martin's Catholic Church, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating beginning in 2011...whether the taste will be sweet or bitter, we will just have to wait and see.

One thing that is for certain is that the church and its allies acted in a 'high-handed' matter, based on what I have read to date. It's amazing how many development projects in this city have similar stories...a largely minority community being left out of consultative process for the most part until the shit hits the fan, and then the powers that be pretend that they meant to include you all along, meanwhile painting you as greedy and racist (paraphrasing Fr. Kelly). Of course, as always its easier to cast aspersions after you have got what you want vs. doing the nitty-gritty work of collaborating with the community to design a project that is agreeable to largest number of folks. Instead, the church (one of the last organizations you would suspect) sows more seeds of discord along the furrows of race and power rather than using it's prerogatives for furthering peace and justice.

I still reserve final judgement on this project...it may turn out to be a boon for the community but based on my extensive education and experience in community development, the process of how development occurs is just as important as the final 'product'...however, in our consumer/results-oriented society we're always ready to sacrifice social justice and our shared humanity on the altar of money. Very sadly, I guess the Catholic Church in DC is no different.