Seventh Street teemed with activity Sunday morning as churchgoers filled surrounding parking lots for Easter services at First Baptist Church downtown. Amidst the bustle, Friendship House stood quietly nearby — silent sentry to a changing era as small neighborhood churches give way to mega worship centers in outlying areas.
Nearly a month has passed since church administrators received a permit to demolish the 120-year-old Victorian house, and if a buyer is not found soon, that will likely be its fate.
The cost: One dollar. The problem: The church wants to keep the land it sits upon, meaning the house will have to be moved to a new lot at a cost professional movers say could be between $70,000 and $80,000, and that”s if the new destination is only a few blocks away. Set up on a new lot could be an additional $30,000 — or more.
Pat Kaye lives a short distance from the house and was interested in buying it, but when First Baptist Church pastor Shawn Parker presented her with a contract two weeks ago, she turned it down.
Even at $1, it didn”t make financial sense.
According to the terms of the contract, the church seeks to sell the house without warranty “where it is, as it is, and in its existing condition” to remove from its existing lot … and move to another lot of the purchaser”s choosing.”
The contract presented to Kaye and dated April 13, 2011, set a closing date of April 20, 2011, with removal to take place within 30 days or the house would be “immediately demolished by the seller.”
Kaye, and other local residents, want to see the house remain in its current location, “where it was born.” It”s part of the neighborhood, they say. It”s part of the history of Columbus.
It”s a sentiment Parker said he understands, but his church has its own needs.
Attendance is so high — nearly 700 on an average Sunday and an estimated 1,100 on Easter — that in January he started holding two separate worship services.
The church plans to eventually sell its downtown properties and relocate to a larger sanctuary on Bluecutt Road. Construction on an activity center at the new location is already underway and slated for completion in September.
“Our motivation for making the offer is our desire to see the house preserved, but we feel like it”s in our best interest to retain the property,” he said Friday afternoon. “It”s contingent property, and it”s connected to all that we own … which makes it more valuable.”
Last Wednesday, the church held a business meeting — closed to the press — to discuss the issue.
“We confirmed our decision that we feel the property is more valuable to us than the offers we”ve received so far,” Parker said, referring to Kaye”s original offer of $35,000 to purchase the house and lot in its present location.
He said he felt the one-week time frame for closing the sale, along with the 30-day removal requirement, was “adequate time.”
John Williams, owner of Kosciusko House Movers in Kosciusko, examined Friendship House two weeks ago and said he feels comfortable enough with its structural integrity and is confident it can be moved, though it would have to be cut in half and reassembled.
However, he cautioned, it would be a complicated, costly process.
“You”ve got to really love the house to move it, because it”s not going to be a bargain,” he said Monday morning.
Kaye said she has no plans to make a counter offer. She”s waiting for a counter-offer from First Baptist. Meanwhile, Parker said his church continues to seek a buyer willing to remove the house from its lot.
He declined to say how long he plans to wait for a purchaser to come forward but acknowledged that the church does have several people who can do the demolition within his congregation.
“I feel like we”re trying as far as we can,” he said. “We”re still trying to reach out to the community.”
The issue has caused controversy amongst local residents as well as between church members. But Parker said he feels confident First Baptist can move past the dissension.
“We are a strong congregation, and people respect each other,” he said. “There”s mutual love and appreciation for each other.”
He said the house remains for sale at the terms he offered in the contract to Kaye.
Though there had been a “For Sale” sign in the window, that sign has been removed. The church administrator”s phone numbers have been removed from the front door.
The S-hooks, which once held the home”s nameplate, swing gently in the breeze. The green metal sign, inscribed “Friendship House,” now rests on the crumbling front porch, tucked behind a faded plaid armchair.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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