TOLEDO, Ohio — The fate of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in east Toledo has been up in the air since last summer when the Catholic Diocese of Toledo announced plans to demolish it.
The church might be crumbling, but the people who attend it are united that this shouldn't be the end of the road for the building.
"There's not a lot we can do, but we can try," said long-time parishioner Jane Wasserman.
Enter CJ Estel, currently an investment property owner out of central Ohio. But a few decades back, Estel grew up in the area and his memories of Scared Heart stretch back as far as he can recall.
"I went to Sacred Heart School and I remember going over there for Mass and I participated as an altar boy," said Estel.
When he heard that the church's days were numbered, something inside him said he needed to step in and make sure it's used properly.
"My preference really is it's something that benefits the community," said Estel. "I don't know what that is. I don't know if it ultimately ends up being a non-profit business or a for-profit that rents out to non-profits."
No matter what, Estel said the building is too beautiful to be bulldozed over and wants to make sure the people of east Toledo benefit. That's why he shared a letter of intent with the community Thursday and has been speaking with the diocese since December.
Estel said in the past they've tried to work with other investors like him and it's left them wary of working with another.
"The church representation brought up Holy Rosary and it's got a sour taste in their mouth from what I understand where they had tried to work with someone in the community, they sold it, and a shelter or something like that was supposed to go in and nothing happened," said Estel.
But Estel said this time is different. They have the funding and a concrete plan to back up their idea. His current offer has given the diocese a couple of weeks to consider and now the church's fate rests in their hands.
"If the offer does expire, I hope we would have at least opened the door to those conversations to discuss what they would want to see or not see out of it, and consider leaving it standing and working with the community," said Estel.
Estel said he has no timeline for how things will play out, but said at the end of the day he doesn't even care if he ends up owning the building or not. He just wants to preserve a beautiful piece of Toledo architecture.
WTOL 11 gave representatives from the diocese a call. They told WTOL 11 that they'll assess any and all options for the church in the coming weeks.
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