Cathedral demolition appeal goes before Vermont Supreme Court

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – The fate of Burlington’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was in front of the Vermont Supreme Court Wednesday.

The cathedral was built in the late 1970s and was shuttered in 2018. Since then, historic preservation groups have battled with the Catholic Diocese over plans to demolish the structure.

After an environmental judge in February gave the green light for the structure to be leveled, ten citizens appealed to the high court.

John Franco, an attorney for the Cathedral Charitable Trust, says that local zoning laws don’t apply because the cathedral must be demolished as part of the deconsecration process. “It remains a place of worship until it is demolished. And then after it’s demolished, the land will remain a place of worship until and unless it’s sold to a buyer and put to a different use,” he said.

Chris Boyle, a lawyer for Preservation Burlington, says the church is more motivated by a real estate deal than deconsecration. “The crux of this matter is a commercial real estate transaction. The non-religious buyer to that transaction is using the appellate status as a religious organization to circumvent the city of Burlington zoning regulations and obtain a demolition permit the non-religious buyer could not in its own right obtain,” he said.

Preservation Burlington wants to see the purchase agreement to find out who is buying it and the terms of the sale.