Demolition begins at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Englewood after devastating fire
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Demolition began Wednesday at the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Englewood, five days after an extra-alarm fire gutted the church.
City officials said the surviving structure is not safe, and must be torn down. This came as hot spots popped up yet again on Wednesday, and the Fire Department had to come back to put out new flames that reignited after bricks were knocked from the north wall into the space where the sanctuary was located.
In a statement Wednesday morning, the Chicago Department of Buildings said it "will begin demolishing the building this morning and is committed to continuing to work closely with the leadership of the Antioch Missionary Baptist as they deal with the loss of this historic community pillar."
Damage from the fire made the walls unsupportive. The Fire Department said if any large gust of wind comes through, the walls will be knocked down.
Thus, the city's plan is to tear down the north, east, and south walls. The west wall, which abuts a school, will stay up.
Cherry pickers and inspectors were back at the church Wednesday afternoon to begin the demolition process. As of just before 4 p.m., crews were slowly chipping away at the historic structure and were about halfway done bringing down the north side of the building.
Afterward, crews moved to the east side of the building.
The crews used electrical and hand tools literally to knock down each brick into the church. The process will be a slow one and could last a week or two.
"I can't believe it," said Englewood resident Ms. Wilkes. "I just can't believe it."
Indeed, it is a hard sight to take for the Englewood community and church members.
"All our members are hurt by it, but we're going to be here and rebuild and we're going to be even closer behind this," said Antioch Missionary Baptist church trustee Darren Garrett, who has been in his position for 20 years.
Not only does Garrett work for the church – he also has a family connection.
"My great-grandmother started out at Antioch over on 53rd and Indiana," he said. "When they left there, they came here to this location - and my family has been here all our lives."
Garrett had hoped the church building would be preserved.
"I was still hoping and praying that we would be able to keep the walls - some parts of it - but God knows what's best," Garrett said.
The fire at the church at Stewart and Englewood avenues first broke out around 2:30 p.m. Friday. The Fire Department went on to raise a 3-11 alarm for extra equipment and manpower.
The fire completely burned away the roof structure, leaving a lot of heavy timber crashing to the floor of the church. Pews were also likely on fire inside the structure.
Amazingly, a mural of Jesus ascending into heaven appeared untouched by the fire, and remained largely intact after the blaze.
But there's still some bad news there. We asked if the be mural could be saved, and the city says the chances are slim. The mural is now peeling.
"I'm going to miss that mural. Hopefully we can save part of it, but if not, I want to thank the Hicks brothers - because we had it retouched up maybe like 15 years ago," Garrett said. "And that mural, everybody loved that mural.
CFD has since confirmed the cause of the fire was accidental due to work being done on the church's roof.
A Good Friday service had been held at the church at noon, about two and a half hours before the fire.
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church held its Easter Sunday services at Calahan Funeral Home, 7030 S. Halsted St.
Even after the fire was extinguished, flames rekindled several times over the next few days, prompting firefighters to douse the ruins in water, and to pour foam on the rubble in an effort to starve the embers of oxygen.
A source from Preservation Chicago says the church building is not a designated Chicago landmark – but the organization believes it should have been.
The church building at Stewart and Englewood avenues is rated in the Chicago Historical Resources Survey, and dates back from the 1880s, and was designed by the architectural firm Bell & Swift.
It began as the Englewood Baptist Congregational Church before becoming the Englewood Missionary Baptist Church, the source said.
The Antioch Missionary Baptist congregation got its start in 1925, under the Rev. E.H. Branch. The church congregation originally worshipped in Bronzeville and later Washington Park.
Under the Rev. Dr. Wilbur Nathan Daniel, Antioch Missionary Baptist moved into its Englewood home in 1958. The church bought the structure for $200,000, with another $75,000 needed for remodeling before moving in.
The building was 128 years old. It was built in 1894.
"Our faith tells us that joy comes in the morning," said Lead Pastor Gerald Dew. "We did weep on Friday, and we wept last night. But joy came this morning."
Dew compared the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the devastation they endured.
"Hopes were dashed on that Friday. These are the emotions that we are so familiar with because we just experienced an awful Friday," he said.
Meantime, church members have continued to come out to the ruined church.
"It's like losing a loved one," said Eddie Johnson III.
Johnson has been coming to Antioch Missionary Baptist Church since childhood. His zeal for community work started with his time playing basketball in the church's gym as a kid.
"It gave me a platform to give back," Johnson said.
Johnson is now a church leader himself, as the executive director of the church's nonprofit – Antioch Community Social Service Agency.
His is just one story of the thousands of people helped out in Englewood since the church moved into the building more than 60 years ago. Weddings, funerals, graduations, community outreach events were all held at the church building.
Johnson said the social service agency helped give out 500 COVID-19 vaccine doses around Englewood.
"This coming summer, we'll provide summer day camp. We do day camp in this building," Johnson said. "So now we're going to have to look for a safe haven for young people. It's frustrating. It's a loss. But we're hopeful."
Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago, says Antioch had an orange rating, meaning it needed a vote to be considered.
"Antioch Church, in my opinion, was a landmark quality building – and unfortunately, the procedure never happened where was taken into landmarks and reviewed," Miller said.
Earlier Wednesday, Miller had expressed hope that parts of the building can be saved one way or another.
"Antioch could be rebuilt within its historic shell and it doesn't have to necessarily be rebuilt exactly like it was," Miller said. "I think there could be some modifications, realizing the cost of all these things but I think that a reconstruction would bring about much more interest to the greater community than just the church itself."
But such an plan proved not to be possible.
