Demolition notice mistakenly placed on historic 19th Street Baptist Church
The community trying to save the 19th Street Baptist Church had a bit of a scare early this week.
A demolition notice was mistakenly placed on the 142-year-old building at 1253 S. 19th St., leading many to believe that this structure that was previously cited by the city for collapsing walls would be torn down for good. The notice posted stated the address of 1300 S. 19th St., which is not the location of the church, but for the auditorium of the shuttered Walter G. Smith School down the street to be demolished.
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It turns out, the demolition notice was posted on the wrong building, L&I spokeswoman Karen Guss confirmed.
“An L&I inspector spoke to the owner of 1249 S 19th this morning about the error and went to the address to remove the demo notice. The Department apologizes for the mistake and for the dismay it appears to have caused,” she said over email.
Rev. Winborne said he didn’t personally hear from the city but was so relieved to learn the notice was mistakenly posted there. And he stressed that the church hasn’t heard from L&I of late. City records show the church is still listed as in “unsafe” condition and the 2011 violations are still open as of an inspector’s visit in February 2016.
