MARIA STEIN — The final stage of demolition at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Maria Stein took place today.
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People watched heavy machinery get to work, knocking down what was left of the church from far away and up close on Wednesday morning.
The bell tower was the final section of the church left to be carefully brought down.
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German Catholic settlers built it in the 1800s, but fire tore through the church in late May. While the hope was to rebuild after the fire, high winds led to further damage last week, and a demolition was scheduled.
“It’s amazing how well it was built 140 years ago, Sara Bergman said. ”Short of a fire, it was never meant to come down."
Bergman told News Center 7 that she grew up in St. John the Baptist.
“To stand on the podium and look out over the church, it seems huge,” she said. “But to look at it now, it seems so small. All the zero frames and walls, and looking at the balconies coming down.”
Among the ashes, the brick, and blackened pieces of wood, there’s a saying: It’s not the building that makes the church, it’s the people.
“Our faith is here, our community is here. We’ll get through it,” Michelle Ashman said.
In a statement sent out on Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati said the demolition doesn’t “mark the end of the parish community.”
“Plans for the future worship space will focus on continuity, remembrance, and hope, honoring the legacy of the past while providing a spiritual home for generations to come,” the Archdiocese said.
The Archdiocese added that the St. John Building and Architect Committee is in the final stage of selecting and hiring an architecture firm to help the community envision the future of the parish.
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