Almost a year ago, we told you that the Ruffin Nichols Memorial AME Church at 11th and Wallace was under contract. At the time, we speculated that the lovely building could possibly be torn down by its new owners. We were in the neighborhood today and it seems that the church, which officially sold back in December for just over $600K, is starting to tear itself down.

In the past

Earlier today

We did a lap around the building and didn’t see any demolition equipment at the site. Plus, plywood is covering a few of the window openings, which would seem like a counterintuitive step for a developer simply planning to take down the building. We can only guess that some structural problem created the scene pictured above.

Does anybody know what happened here and when? Might somebody have any additional information on what the developers intend to do at this site? Do neighbors have a preference for what they’d like to see here, assuming the church gets demolished? Does anybody else find it regrettable that this handsome old church is probably not long for this world?