Historic preservationists and neighbors of the Seventh Church of Christ, Scientist, on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, are mobilizing to try to stop demolition of the 1926 structure.

The Queen Anne Historical Society says that at least one buyer had expressed interest in preserving the building if the congregation would allow an independent structural assessment. The society says the congregation rejected that request in January.

Charles Bergstrom, a spokesman for the church, said the congregation wanted to meet the prospective buyer first before granting an engineering firm access to the building.

The church marketed the property unsuccessfully for two years, he said, before reluctantly deciding in July to sign a deal with developer David Fletcher, who plans to build four homes on the site. Like many urban churches, Seventh Church has struggled to keep up with repairs even as its membership dwindled.

"It's one thing to say it should be saved; it's another thing to do it," Bergstrom said.

After the city said in February it would issue a demolition permit, three Queen Anne residents, a Capitol Hill attorney and the historical society filed appeals with a hearing examiner. The parties are scheduled to meet with the examiner April 18.

The unusual church is decorated in the neo-Byzantine early Christian Revival style, highlighted vividly by three massive arched doorways on its east face. Although the city says the building might qualify as a historic landmark, the congregation opposes that designation because it would stop it from closing a deal it struck with Fletcher.

Under state law, the city cannot impose historic-landmark status on a church building without the church's consent.

"It's a jewel that has to be preserved," says Byron Coney, the Capitol Hill attorney appealing the demolition permit. Coney says that he told the church more than three years ago that he was interested in buying the property for a religious center and neighborhood performance hall but was told by the church that it wasn't for sale.

David Weaver, the church's real-estate broker, says he began listing the property in 2005 for $2.3 million and showed it to interested buyers such as schools, churches and other nonprofits that would preserve the building.
The wooden pews can seat up to 300 people. The organ, concealed behind walls, was manufactured by Balcom and Vaughan Master Organ Builders of Seattle.

"We had so many people who thought this was the greatest opportunity," Weaver said. "Then they never came back."

The building sustained structural damage in the Nisqually earthquake of 2001. Cracks run from the floor to the ceiling along a load-bearing wall and in other parts of the church. A leaky roof has led to peeling plaster in the education wing.

Opponents of the demolition question city officials' wisdom.

Leanne Olson of the historical society, which filed a joint appeal with Queen Anne Neighbors for Responsible Growth, says the architect who designed the church, Harlan Thomas, lived in the neighborhood and also played a key role in the design of such well-known structures as the Sorrento Hotel and the Corner Market Building at Pike Place Market.

The church's neo-Byzantine style alone makes it worth saving, the society says.

"There's really nothing else of that sort in the city of Seattle," Olson said.
Neighbor Tyler Crone is concerned about the impact a demolition could have on the health of her two young children, 1 and 3. Crone says she believes the church contains lead-based paint and worries about a cloud of dust coating her house and yard. Decades of studies have shown lead exposure harms the developing brains of young children.

Bill Merkle, Fletcher's real-estate agent, says the developer is submitting a report to the city on potential health hazards from demolition. Merkle says he's confident the demolition will be allowed to proceed.

"Some of the appeals are not based on legal grounds," he says. "We feel they'll be dismissed."

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