Photos: Demolition begins on fire-damaged St. Augustine Church
Demolition begins of the 126-year-old former St. Augustine Catholic Church, a Gothic Revival-style church in Hyde Park on Friday, March 29, 2024.
A wrecking ball brings down one of the pinnacles of the 126-year-old former St. Augustine Church as demolition begins of the Gothic Revival-style church in the ѿý Place neighborhood on Friday, March 29, 2024. The vacant church, owned by the city’s land bank, caught fire on March 18, the third fire in two years. The LRA contracted the work to Premier Demolition for $123,000. Work is expected to continue for the next two weeks at 3114 Lismore Street.
A wrecking ball hits brick walls of the 126-year-old former St. Augustine Church as demolition begins of the Gothic Revival-style church on Friday, March 29, 2024.
“I’ve been telling my people that I’m sitting in my yard watching a movie,” said Nannie Williams, as she records the demolition of the 126-year-old former St. Augustine Church across the street from her house on Hebert Street in the ѿý Place neighborhood on Friday, March 29, 2024.
A wrecking ball works to bring down sections of the north walls of the 126-year-old former St. Augustine Church in the ѿý Place neighborhood on Friday, March 29, 2024. Workers with Premier Demolition had planned to salvage some portions of the Emil Frei stained glass windows but the interior steel fell on top of the wall.
A wrecking ball brings down an arched exterior wall of the 126-year-old former St. Augustine Church as demolition begins of the Gothic Revival-style church in on Friday, March 29, 2024.
An 1896 cornerstone remains in place as demolition begins of the 126-year-old former St. Augustine Church, a Gothic Revival-style church in the ѿý Place neighborhood on Friday, March 29, 2024.
A 4200-pound teardrop wrecking ball sits in the middle of Hebert Street as demolition begins of the 126-year-old former St. Augustine Church on Friday, March 29, 2024.
Darien Whitley of Premier Demolition holds a section of stained glass during a pause in demolition of the 126-year-old former St. Augustine Church in the ѿý Place neighborhood on Friday, March 29, 2024.
The east wall of the 126-year-old former St. Augustine Church is demolished as work begins on the Gothic Revival-style church in the ѿý Place neighborhood on Friday, March 29, 2024.
Robert Cohen
Staff Photographer
A church building that is more than 100 years old is being demolished after it caught fire for the third time in two years.
St. Augustine’s tower “can still serve as a landmark,” historian says.