MARIA STEIN — Crews began taking down parts of a historic church that was destroyed by fire and high winds.
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News Center 7’s Malik Patterson is following this story. He will have the latest LIVE on News Center 7 at 11:00.
News Center 7 previously reported that after exploring options, it has been decided that the upper portion of the tower at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Maria Stein cannot be removed safely.
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The goal is the try and protect the façade of the front entrance and other decorative stone work around the church.
As News Center 7 previously reported, the church was heavily damaged in a devastating fire in May. It sustained further damage from high winds this past weekend.
Photos provided by Father Ken Schnipke show crews on Friday removing parts of the walls.
Crews were able to preserve a historical marker from the north wall of the church which reads “The Holy Saint John Church 1849, Rebuilt 1889.”
Ellen Winner watched the demolition from her front door.
Winner said crews arrived at the church around 10 a.m. Friday.
She said they won’t have their calling card landmark to know they are almost home now.
“My kids aren’t going to see that steeple for a long time. And I mean, I hope the rebuild is going to be something similar, but it’s still not going to be the same church,” Winner said.
We will continue to follow this story.
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