In the fast-paced New York megalopolis, the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is an oasis on the world’s busiest shopping street. The church offers “a personal touch” amid the hustle and bustle of midtown Manhattan. Located on the strategic corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street, this 21st Century church reaches out to the world.

Designed in 1873 in the Gothic style by the New York architect Carl Pfeiffer, the 55,000-SF Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is the largest Presbyterian sanctuary in Manhattan. At 286 feet in height, the steeple, completed in 1876, was then the tallest in New York City.

The historic renovations that the Church is undergoing included dropping the basement level of the Church 14-feet to create additional space for classrooms, offices and activities areas; a new Christian Education Center carved from the unused space below the sanctuary; an enlarged 55th Street lobby; expansion of the church house to 12 floors; air-conditioning, and fireproofing systems. Also, the construction effort required underpinning and bracing the sanctuary to reduce vibration to the 130-year old stone and wood structure.

Adjacent to the Church is the 10-story Church House (pictured above) designed by James Gamble Rogers, best known for his collegiate Gothic architecture for the Memorial Quadrangle and Harkness Tower at Yale University. Renovations to the Church House included adding two floors to the top of the structure, structural strengthening and a complete MEP upgrade.