Fate of 85-Year-Old Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ames, Iowa, Unresolved as City Seeks Demolition for Road Work

The future of Ames Seventh-day Adventist Church, an 85-year-old congregation building at 13th Street and Grand Avenue in Ames, Iowa, remains uncertain as the city pursues its demolition. The church was built in 1941.

The city plans to widen the intersection of Grand Avenue and 13th Street to add four left-turn lanes, expanding the streets in all directions to three lanes. The project also includes a new traffic signal and a shared-use path along the west side of Grand Avenue. The plan requires the city to buy and demolish the church at 1303 Grand Avenue and a residential duplex at 1302 Harding Avenue.

Ames Public Works Director Justin Clausen said the widening places the proposed sidewalk within a few feet of existing buildings on two properties on the north side of 13th Street, between Grand Avenue and Harding Avenue. “Given the extent of those impacts, the city determined full acquisition of those two properties was necessary,” Clausen said. The intersection has experienced significant congestion and delay for decades, and the city has considered updating it for the past 20 years, holding a variety of discussions with the church over the last decade.

Pastor William Holt told the Ames Tribune that the church is open to moving but has not yet secured an alternate location. “The church is happy to see the project happening because we know it’s going to benefit the community,” Holt said. “We just would also like to continue to be able to serve the community as we’ve been doing for 85 years,” a record of service to neighbors that reflects doing good and sharing with others (Hebrews 13:16).

Holt described the building as a “memorable looking church” that would likely be missed. “I’m new to the area, but I talk with a fair amount of people about this situation that we’re in and they say, ‘I know that church. It’d be sad to see it go,'” he said. He also said the small parking lot off Grand Avenue is in disrepair and can be hard to enter, especially on Iowa State game days.

Holt said the church has not agreed to sell. He said that, based on what the city is currently offering as financial restitution, the local organization would likely have to close. “We would pretty much cease to exist because we wouldn’t have a place to meet; we wouldn’t be able to find anything comparable,” Holt said. “So we’re kind of trying to work through that and figure out what a fair option is.”

Holt also said the church has been cautious about investing in the building, explaining that for a long time the city has said it would take the property. The congregation has had “a couple conversations” with different groups about renting buildings for a short period. Holt did not specify where those buildings are, though he said one is a church. He said the congregation “doesn’t really have a great option at the moment.”

“We would like to really put the matter before God and let him know that we’re trusting him,” Holt said. “We know that sometimes things are a little bit difficult, and we leave that difficulty in his hands, and we want to trust him moving forward.”

Source: Read the original report