Mike Arnold, the president of a Crown Point landscaping company, is on a mission to save a historic church.
He’d like to try and repurpose, if possible, the city’s 139-year-old Trinity Lutheran Church property in Crown Point.
“I would really love to see it happen but it has to make sense,” Arnold said.
The Crown Point City Council on Monday gave final approval to a zoning change that would allow his company, Creekside Outdoor Living, to proceed with redevelopment plans for the property at 400 E. North St.
The landscaping company, which has partnered with Dynasty Real Estate & Property Solutions, hopes to turn the city’s historic Trinity Lutheran Church property into apartments and multi-office rental space.
But first, plans are to assess the existing structure to determine whether the proposal can proceed or the building needs to be demolished, Arnold said.
“It (the building) has been rained on and snowed on and vandalized…. Walking through there is scary,” he said.
Jake Rhodes, a real estate investor with Dynasty, told the city council that the cost will be pricey just to get the feasibility study completed.
“After engaging a couple of companies, environmental engineers, structural engineers, we have found it’s going to be several thousand dollars to get an actual study done so we can see exactly what we’ve got on our hands,” Rhodes said.
The two-story church was founded as Trinity Lutheran Church in 1886, and the adjacent school structure was created in 1938. The church is 2,480 square feet and the connected school spans 4,100 square feet, in addition to a parking lot, according to information in a previous Post-Tribune story.
In 1958, the structures were transformed into apartments and the hardwood floor was covered in carpet.
On October 20, 2018, a fire caused by a tenant caused damage to the building.
The complex was abandoned that same year and the structure was deemed uninhabitable by Crown Point officials.
John Heidbreder and others formed the nonprofit 1886 Church Foundation in July 2019 and since then have received grants to remove fake stucco and conduct structural and feasibility studies. Eventually, they decided it would be best to turn the building over to a new owner who could revive it.
Crown Point Mayor Pete Land said the buildings have been deemed to be uninhabitable since the time of the structure fire.
After the 1886 Church Foundation launched a search for a new buyer who could save the structure from demolition, Creekside Outdoor Living stepped forward with a redevelopment plan.
Arnold said his company is committed to preserving the historic property and is following up on suggestions from a previous city council meeting that a feasibility study be conducted.
He and Rhodes were also instructed by the city council to return to officials and provide updates once those studies have been completed.
“The feasibility study, which would include environmental, structural and financial costs, will have to all work together for us to determine if it is in restorative condition. We haven’t engaged someone to get us the information we need,” he said.
If it can be preserved, plans are to turn the building into coffee shops and other small, low-key businesses and residential units.
Similar plans are being looked at if the buildings have to be demolished.
Either way, Arnold said the costs will most likely be in the millions of dollars.
“One way or another, we are invested in the community. It’s something we like to do,” he said.
So many questions remain until the study is conducted, including whether there is asbestos that has to be removed.
“There’s so many unknowns,” he said.
Before the council’s vote and unanimous approval of the rezoning request, several residents gave passionate appeals emphasizing the church’s cultural significance and the community’s desire to see it restored.
Jeanene Letcher, who serves as historian and president of the Lake County Historical Society, told of conducting historical tours that included the church.
“History, once it’s lost, it can’t be found again,” Letcher said.
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
