Dutch City Revising Plans to Demolish Relic of Pilgrims' Stay
By Arthur Max
Associated Press Writer
Published: May 3, 2001AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - The Dutch city of Leiden is reconsidering plans to demolish the ruin of a medieval church where the Pilgrims prayed before sailing to America, a city councilor said Thursday. Bowing to a campaign to preserve the site, the Leiden city council was revising a plan that would have seen the remains of the 14th-century church replaced by a public square and shopping area. The United Church of Christ, based in Cleveland, said the council had reversed its decision to raze the ruins. The Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk, or Church of Our Dear Lady, 30 miles south of Amsterdam, was deemed "an important monument" and would be preserved, the church group said, quoting councilman Alexander Pechtold. Pechtold told The Associated Press, however, the council had not made a final decision, but was studying a new development plan "to leave some of the remains" of the historic church at the center of a public plaza. "We decided to rethink the whole problem," said Pechtold, who led the redevelopment drive. "We are considering the concerns expressed in the United States. It may be that the old plan is outdated." A final decision would be taken in a few months, he said, and it was still possible the city could chose to demolish the Pilgrim remains under the original proposal. The Pilgrims fled religious persecution in England in 1608 and settled in Holland, a stronghold of Calvinism. Some left for America on the Mayflower beginning in 1620, hoping to establish a purer religious climate and avoid the renewing war between the Dutch and Roman Catholic Spain. "The flight of the Mayflower Pilgrims to Leiden and their subsequent journey across the Atlantic is one of the foundational epics of American history - an event that still shapes U.S. politics, culture and religion," said the Rev. John H. Thomas, president of the church group, praising Leiden's decision. Records show ancestors of President Bush were married in the church. A mossy brick wall, the ruins of the nave and the buried foundations are all that remain of the church. The development program also called for the destruction of a former hospital building where Myles Standish was treated when he was injured while serving in the Dutch army. The last Pilgrim house in the city, William Bradford's, was torn down in 1985 to make way for a housing project. A coalition of liberal and conservative U.S. churches mustered 2,000 signatures on a hastily organized petition one year ago when the demolition appeared immanent, but Leiden never formally responded. Pressure mounted last July when Royal Ahold, a Dutch retail conglomerate that owns several American grocery chains, told Leiden it would withdraw from the development project if it jeopardized the Pilgrim monuments, Bangs said. But just four months ago, the Dutch Council of State, a body chaired by Queen Beatrix, rejected an appeal and agreed to let the city proceed with its development plan for the area. Andy Lang, a spokesman for the United Church of Christ, said Leiden's decision followed lengthy negotiations involving the preservation of other historic sites in the city, better known in the Netherlands for that period as the home of Rembrandt. Lang said Leiden was hoping to raise funds in the United States to restore the Pieterskerk, a still-standing church near the Pilgrims remnant. "We sent signals that we would help draw attention to their efforts to preserve Pieterskerk, but it would be difficult if an important Pilgrim monument was treated with disrespect," he told The Associated Press.