St. Stephen’s Anglican Church, at 10909 96th St., was scheduled to be knocked down this past Wednesday. The Anglican diocese wants to clear the property and sell the 6,600-square-foot double lot as a building site. It’s asking $475,000 for the land, which is currently zoned for a duplex.<\/p>\n
Late Tuesday, hours before demolition was to start, the diocese agreed to give McCauley activists and heritage buffs a two-week reprieve. They now have until Easter to find a buyer with the will and means to effect the building’s resurrection.<\/p>\n
The little red brick church, with its Tudor-style wood beam accents, was built in 1914, which makes it the second-oldest Anglican church in the city. For years, it served the diocese’s Anglo-Catholic community, but the congregation had dwindled to only some 50 members. The diocese says the building’s original brick foundation has badly deteriorated, as has the exterior mortar.<\/p>\n
Diocese executive officer David Connell says it didn’t make sense to pay for the expensive repairs the building requires. Connell is “ambivalent” about knocking down the church, but his big regret is that it wasn’t demolished in November, as originally planned.<\/p>\n