CLEVELAND, Ohio - It was demolition day for the Emmanuel Episcopal Church that has stood at the corner of East 86th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland since 1902.
The Rev. Brian Wilbert is an archivist with the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio. He came to document the demolition of a church that once had a congregation of 1,200 members.
He said it became The Church of the Transfiguration about a decade ago. But, it was closed and has been vacant for nearly five years.
This building served this church for a season and now it is time to come down, he said.
Foran Group Development was hired to find alternative uses for the church, but found it was in disrepair so decided to tear it down.
It was in that process that we discovered that the building had some serious structural issues that would have required over $8 million dollars just to correct, said the company’s owner, Rick Foran. We’re disappointed that the building has to come down, given that it is such a notable architectural feature here in the community.
There are already plans for the site.
Foran said The Episcopal Diocese of Ohio is selling the land to The Cleveland Clinic with the plan to build a hotel for families of patients at the hospital.
The complete demolition of the church and the clearing of the land should be complete in a couple of weeks.
