Sale of historic church to St. Luke’s Hospital raises concern

The purchase of a historic church in the proposed Cedar Rapids medical district is raising a red flag.

St. Luke's Hospital bought First Christian Church, 840 Third Ave. SE, for $695,000 last month, according to the city assessor's website.

The hospital has no immediate plans for the building, but purchased it for future expansion for the medical district, spokeswoman Sarah Corizzo said.

Corizzo said the building will not be demolished at this point.

That doesn't ease concerns for Mark Stoffer Hunter, an expert in Cedar Rapids history, who wonders what will come down next in the city's medical district.

“This would be a big loss,” he said. “You're not going to see buildings like this anymore. Once they're gone, they're gone.”

Already, a half-dozen buildings have been demolished to make way for the Physicians' Clinic of Iowa medical mall between Second and Third avenues SE, near 10

^th

Street.

Two of those buildings were eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Stoffer Hunter said First Christian Church, dedicated in 1913, replaced a building that had been located near Greene Square Park and represented the move of several churches away from downtown.

The building forms a triangle with Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 857 Third Ave. SE, and First Lutheran Church, 1000 Third Ave. SE.

With stately columns and a cavernous lobby, the church possesses unique architectural elements, Stoffer Hunter said.

“It was probably a fairly revolutionary church design when it was built in Cedar Rapids,” he said.

Stoffer Hunter conducted an inventory of sites for the city's new Grant Wood Cultural District, which includes First Christian Church.

The Grant Wood studio at 5 Turner Alley, is just a block away at 810 Second Ave. SE.

Doug Neumann, president of the Cedar Rapids Downtown District, a driving force behind the new cultural district, said the designation doesn't protect sites in the district.

The cultural district, certified by the State Historical Society of Iowa, is a vehicle for programming and advocacy for the arts, he said.

Neumann said the city's Historic Preservation Commission needs to take the lead if they want buildings preserved in the district.

For years, First Christian Church has been known as the site for live Nativity scenes during the Christmas season.

Member Duane Smith said the church sold quickly after it was put on the market in November.

Smith said the proposed medical district was one of the reasons members thought it would be a good time to sell.

The building and land were assessed at $681,870, according to the assessor's website.

St. Luke's is leasing the building back to the church, as members decide where to move, Smith said.

“It sold a little quicker than we anticipated,” he said.