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ST. LOUIS — The city may have lost much of St. Augustine to a fire, but the bell tower of the 125-year-old historic church survived the flames, and this week, the wrecking ball.

Alderman Rasheen Aldridge said Wednesday that ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Development Corporation President and CEO Neal Richardson, whose office manages the city’s land bank that owns the remnants of the abandoned north side church, agreed to let the bell tower remain standing for now.

“We don’t make buildings like that anymore,� said Aldridge, who represents the neighborhood north of downtown where the church sat.

After the third fire in two years broke out in March, demo crews began taking down what remained of the Gothic Revival-style church built in 1896 near Parnell Street and Natural Bridge Avenue for the area’s then large German Catholic population.

The city hired Premier Demolition, which worked slowly to preserve bricks and the stained glass crafted by Emil Frei Sr., the German-born and trained artisan who settled in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ in the 1890s. Then, the company’s engineering firm told them the nearly 200-foot bell tower was structurally sound.

Aldridge saw the report and toured the bell tower on Monday.

“It’s not going to fall down, not going to tip over,� Aldridge said.

But the demolition company and the city faced a deadline this week. Premier had to move the crane it has at the site on Hebert Street to another job. Bringing it back to knock down the tower later would cost the city thousands of dollars more.

Preservationists, including Amanda Clark, a public historian at the Missouri History Museum, sprang into action late last week to try and convince the city to hold off on knocking the tower down.

“It’s gorgeous,� she said of the steeple. “It can still serve as a landmark.�

Similar to the Grand Avenue and Bissell Street water towers, the steeple of St. Augustine’s stands tall over the cityscape of the near north side, offering a view to commuters heading north on Jefferson Avenue, including those who will soon be working at the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency offices.

Shelton Anderson, who heads the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Land Reutilization Authority that owns the structure, confirmed in a statement via an SLDC spokeswoman that the contractor’s structural assessment determined the steeple was of “sound structural integrity.â€�

“LRA is currently exploring ways to protect the property from further damage and maintain safety for the surrounding community while exploring near future development opportunities on the property,� Anderson’s statement said.

But in a neighborhood that has not seen much development interest in recent years, the city could end up holding the real estate for the foreseeable future — not unlike its water towers.