page_title: Trinity Chapel Complex
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Trinity Chapel Complex / 2016 fire / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: At New York City, USA Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral
context_page_description: Trinity Chapel Complex, later the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava, is a historic church at 15 West 25th Street between Broadway and the Avenue of the Americas in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.
  The church building was constructed in 1850-55 and was designed by architect Richard Upjohn in English Gothic Revival style. It was built as one of several uptown chapels of the Trinity Church parish, but was sold to the Serbian Eastern Orthodox parish in 1942, re-opening as the Cathedral of St. Sava in 1944.
  The church complex includes the Trinity Chapel School, now the cathedral's Parish House, which was built in 1860 and was designed by Jacob Wrey Mould, a polychromatic Victorian Gothic building which is Mould's only extant structure in New York City. Attached to the sanctuary itself is the Clergy House at 26 West 26th Street, which was built in 1866 and was designed by Richard Upjohn and his son Richard M. Upjohn.
  The chapel was designated a New York City landmark in 1968, and the complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
  Most of the church was destroyed in a four-alarm fire on May 1, 2016.
context_section_description: St. Sava parishioners reunited a few blocks away the first Sunday after the fire at Gramercy Park's Episcopal Calvary-St. George's Parish Church to worship.
  Church officials indicate there will be plans to rebuild at the current site. Offers of support, including a letter from Patriarch Bartholomew, have been shared with the parishioners of the church.
  Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić indicated that the City of New York would be asked through diplomatic channels to aid in the rebuilding of the church. He also indicated Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić authorized him to say that the government will help rebuild the church, "because it has great significance for the Serbian community and the Serbian spirit in New York."
  As of two days after the fire, the definitive cause of the fire had not been determined. Candles that had not been properly extinguished after an Easter service were identified as a likely cause, according to a spokesperson of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY).  A caretaker told fire marshals that he stowed the candles in a cardboard box under a piece of wooden furniture in a rear corner of the 161-year-old church.
  Nearly a month after the fire FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon indicated conclusively that, "Fire marshals have ... determined that candles, which had not been completely extinguished, caused the fire." It was reported that the city has ordered the remains of the church demolished, calling them unstable. The Buildings Department quickly clarified that the inspection was not complete and they had not ordered the immediate demolition of the building. In August 2016 the parish announced that the Building Department ordered metal beams be used to shore up the walls and the building be covered with a waterproof canvas to keep it from being damaged further by the elements.  The parish announced they anticipate that effort to be completed in September 2016.
  In May 2018 the parish filed a lawsuit against their insurer Church Mutual for $47M USD.  The insurer's payment was $12.7M USD based on the 1945 purchase price and subsequent improvements.  The church countered that the payment did not account for present day rebuilding costs will be approximately $60M USD. The parish and the insurer reached an undisclosed settlement in April 2019.
    Installation of the new roof over the nave was completed in July 2019. As of November 2019 steel I-beams for the new floor were being installed as well as framing for the windows which will be fitted with temporary acrylic panels. An image captured in March 2020 showed that the building had been enclosed.
caption: The cathedral in 2017
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