Gary's City Methodist Church, the Gothic landmark that has drawn photographers and preservationists for decades, will be torn down entirely and replaced with greenspace, according to The Times of Northwest Indiana.

The decision ends years of efforts to save at least part of the building. City officials had explored turning the grounds into a ruins garden and preserving the nine-story bell tower, the NWI Times reported Oct. 22.

No funding partner came forward for the $4.2 million stabilization effort, so Gary leaders chose demolition, Steve Segura, chief communications officer for the city, told the Chicago Sun-Times in September. The church had been deemed unsafe and unrecoverable, Segura said.

The demolition will level the sanctuary, fellowship hall, theater and bell tower, David Wellman, communications director for the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority (RDA), told the Chicago Tribune. The roof caved in years ago.

The RDA awarded the demolition contract to Homrich Wrecking at an estimated cost of $5.3 million, the Sun-Times reported. Demolition will begin after the contract is finalized, according to Wellman.

The church sits near the 21st Century Academy charter school and Genesis Towers, a senior housing complex. Segura said in a statement that safety for students and vulnerable residents nearby "had to become the City's foremost responsibility."

A century of history

Rev. William G. Seaman founded the church in 1926 as Gary boomed with steel mills. U.S. Steel helped fund construction with $350,000, the Sun-Times reported, citing the Indiana Historical Bureau. The church was once the largest Methodist church in the Midwest.

At its peak in the 1950s, membership topped 3,000, according to the Tribune. The building housed a gym, theater, music studio, cafeteria and commercial space. It was open every day and served as a central meeting place.

But the congregation was segregated. When some church leaders tried to integrate in the 1950s, the white congregation largely opposed the move, the Sun-Times reported. As white residents left Gary for the suburbs in the 1960s, membership shrank. The church closed in 1975.

What comes next

The demolition is part of a broader push. A city press release described the church teardown as Phase 2 of a coordinated downtown demolition plan. Phase 1 includes the Genesis Convention Center and the former Gordon's Department Store complex.

The projects fall under the Gary Blight Elimination Program, authorized by the Indiana General Assembly in 2023 and managed jointly by the RDA and the city, the Tribune reported. The initial $12 million, split between Gary and the RDA, has been boosted by $15 million from the Indiana Economic Development Corp.'s READI 2.0 program to fund additional demolition work, renovations to the Hudson & Campbell Center and incentives for new development.

Lauren Pacheco, an artist and board member of Landmark Illinois who has lived in Gary for nine years, told the Sun-Times she hopes officials consider saving materials from the church for a sculpture or display. She said the site could become a spot for open-air painting or photography.

Gary and the University of Notre Dame's School of Architecture have been collaborating on a redevelopment vision for the cleared block, according to the city.