An historic church in downtown Flint is falling to the wrecking ball this week.
The Oak Park Methodist Episcopal Church was built in the early 1900’s, financed by some of Flint’s auto industry pioneers.
A 2023 fire, started accidently, destroyed most of the historic Neo-Gothic church, after many years of decline and neglect.
Mayor Sheldon Neeley said now the old church is an example of Flint’s blight problem.
“We continue to move blighted structures to be able to make way for new structures….for residential homes…for commercia development,” Neeley told reporters Monday.
The city plans to salvage a piece of history from the old Neo-Gothic church.
Ed Taylor, the City of Flint's Chief of Staff, said the church’s large brass bell will be removed from the belfry before the structure is brought down.
“This bell goes back for a hundred years in this community,” said Taylor, though he admits there’s no firm plan for what to do with the bell.
But first, the massive bell has to be removed from its perch, about four and half stories up in a building left unstable from a fire and exposure to the elements.
Broc Edwards is the president of SC Environmental Services, the company that’s tearing down what’s left of the century old church building.
He’s optimistic his team can remove the bell safely.
“There are always unknowns that come up in demolition,” said Edwards. “But we feel good about the opportunity.”
Edwards said they plans to use debris from demolishing other parts of the building to construct a ramp up to the bell tower to make it easier to safety remove the bell.
