As the sale was closing on one of Crown Point’s oldest standing churches, plans were halted when the Crown Point Board of Works deemed the structure an unsafe building.
The decision came when the Board of Works met on Dec. 4 to discuss the state of the 138-year-old Trinity Lutheran Church and schoolhouse located at 400 East North Street in Crown Point’s Eastside Historic District.
Attorney Ben Ballou, representing the city, concluded the building is a nuisance and an unsafe building, referencing information from Bradley Wentz, the city building inspector.
“The position of the city is that while this agreement is nice to have, there’s no obligation on the proposed purchaser to actually complete the repairs,” Ballou said. “To me, it’s a kick the can down the road scenario where we have this nice plan that might happen. Or it might not happen. And as he just said, Mr. (Dave) Jancosek, that he might get into it and realize this isn’t for me, it’s a bad decision, and where are we left? The same building, the same violations, the same issues.”
Ballou suggested that the structure should be demolished and for the property to be graded appropriately. The Board of Works members then passed a motion affirming the order of the building department.
Blake Swihart, director of Indiana Landmarks Northwest Field Office, said he believes the destruction is in the church’s future, negating the progress the organizations have made to salvage it.
“The prospective buyer, the 1886 Church Foundation, and Indiana Landmarks all testified that the proposed plan was both feasible and would save the building,” Swihart said. “The proposed buyer was set to begin work that day.”
However, the city said its decision was a result of several years worth of mounting safety concerns, ordinance violations and residential complaints about the vacant structure’s worsening state. Other factors included the uncertainty of the timeline of when the building would be safely occupied.
“Although the foundation did present a buyer to the property with the hopes of having it restored, the buyer did make a full disclosure to the city that it would take him at least four years to just get it into compliance and in a condition that he could then try to sell it to an end user,” Crown Point Mayor Pete Land said. “He also made it clear that he could not predict how long it would take to find a buyer.”
This past September, the 1886 Church Foundation and Indiana Landmarks teamed up to find a “savior” who could restore the site to its original grandeur. They were met with a flurry of interest as soon as they advertised the sale of the historic site for $7,500, showing the building to 40 to 50 interested buyers, Swihart said. However, the low price was indicative of the work and money that would need to be invested into the property.
“Four to six weeks ago we narrowed it down to a couple of parties,” Swihart said. “Based on the criteria we had for a qualified buyer, Dave Jancosek stood out for his past preservation work in Crown Point. He’s very well-respected in the city for his work on historic homes in the last 20 years, so we thought he’d be perfect for this project.”
Jancosek is a resident who has done decades of restoration work on historical Crown Point homes along Court Street and Main Street, including the Victorian-style Root Mansion at 107 W. South St.
“The city served notice during our negotiations and my purchasing of the building, which is poor timing because I was going to start doing the demolition work on it,” Jancosek said. “It’s unfortunate because I see both sides. I see where the city got frustrated with the progress of the building, seeing it fatigue over the years. The citation was because the building is in disarray. There were also complaints from citizens in the area they brought up. I think if I would have taken this project over a few years ago, it would have been better timing and maybe things could have been different.”
Jancosek said he planned to repair the roof, clean the site and demolish the interior walls that were added when it was converted into apartments. Once the building became a usable canvas, it would be sold to someone who would give purpose to the property, he said.
“Dave was ready to sign, and then the city unfortunately listed the building as an unsafe structure,” Swihart said. “It’s an unfortunate turn of events. We were really excited that this was going to happen, after a lot of hard work from the foundation, and frankly a lot of patience on the city and residents’ part. We were just about to put the roof on and then we had to hit pause.”
The two-story church was founded as part of 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.
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.
John Heidbreder and others then 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 over the building to a new owner who can revive it. Heidbreder said they believed they had just found their miracle worker to bring the church back into use.
“It was unexpected,” said Heidbreder. “On all sides, things seemed to be positive. Since we had established a contract with David, we thought that should have had quite a bit of sway. We thought he’d be left to do his renovation work. And he really did have a wonderful plan. Within the first year, he would have met the citations of what the city had issue with, so they would have been resolved in 2025. And we thought it was great that we had someone who could do that. He was just going to be the answer.”
Land said the buildings have been deemed to be uninhabitable since the time of the structure fire. In October 2018, the Crown Point Building Department inspectors gave notice to the former property owner that the building was in violation of the city’s unsafe building codes based on the state of the structure.
However, the former owner did not act on the notice, which stated that the building needed to be brought into code compliance.
“In August 2021, the new owners of the site, The 1886 Church Foundation Corporation, were given notice by the city’s inspectors that although the site itself has been partially cleaned up — the removal of storage sheds, debris that was littering the property — the building itself is still declared to be unsafe,” Land said. “In September 2023, with no improvements made to have the building comply with the unsafe building ordinance, the 1886 Church Foundation was again given formal notice that it is in violation of the city’s ordinances. Due to the fact that no repairs of any kind had been made, or even started, the decision was made to have the matter brought before the Board of Public Works & Safety.”
Though he has a passion for restoration, Jancosek said ultimately, the neighborhood has to be on board.
“It really comes down to the citizens of Crown Point,” Jancosek said. “It was evident the board has been pressured by citizens in the area and they didn’t want the building there anymore. It doesn’t really fall on the board or the city or the mayor. It just seemed like, from being at the board of works meeting and listening to the claims, it looks like more of an outcry of the local neighborhood against the building. In other projects I worked on, with the old Victorian homes, it was the opposite. Neighbors would come by and even give a helping hand, they were so happy to see the house worked on. They’d come out and commend me for my work. But I think with time, people lost patience.”
Heidbreder said letters were sent out this past year to 150 surrounding neighbors explaining the 1886 Church Foundation’s mission and plans, but he did not receive any negative feedback from the surrounding residents.
As for the slow pace of progress, obstacles were mainly financial, he said.
“The challenges were largely funding,” Heidbreder said. “We began as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and we wanted to operate the property as a membership non-for-profit restoration project, which is how the courthouse and sheriff’s house operates. But we did not have the interest to a great degree when it came to membership contributions. But I think it’s because we are more of a private building, more so than the courthouse and old jail which have that support because they’re so prominent in the city. Consequently in June 2024, we began a contract with Indiana Landmarks to market the building in September, when we were getting a huge number of calls to see the building.”
Swihart drew parallels to when officials sought to demolish the Crown Point Courthouse, or the Grand Old Lady, 50 years ago.
“It too was called too old, an eyesore and many thought it not worth the money to save…” Swihart said. “Crown Point is known for its historic structures, houses, and neighborhoods. This is a small piece of it but it’s an important one and it deserves to be saved. I don’t think an empty lot in a historic prominent neighborhood is as desirable as having a standing historic landmark.”
Land said the city also feels strongly about the importance of local history and continues to support preservation efforts.
“Crown Point puts a tremendous value on our city’s history, particularly our historic buildings,” Land said. “We have a number of designated historic districts and a Historic Preservation Commission whose sole purpose is to help property owners maintain their building’s history as they restore the properties as much as possible. Additionally, our Redevelopment Commission reimburses businesses in the downtown historic district up to $25,000 for exterior restoration work under our Facade Reimbursement Program.”
As for the church, Land said he can’t speak to its future yet.
“While the Board of Public Works & Safety affirmed the building department’s order that it has been and continues to be an unsafe building per city code, the foundation has a right to appeal this finding if they choose to,” Land said.
Anna Ortiz is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
