TOLEDO, Ohio —
Sacred Heart Catholic Church offered services to Toledo residents for over 100 years before its closure in January.
The diocese decided to demolish the parish after it was determined there was uncertain structure viability, and that it was too much of a financial burden.
Those plans are now put on hold following a Toledo City Council meeting July 17 that placed a one-year ban on demolition permits aimed at historic buildings.
City council unanimously passed the moratorium, which stops demolition permits for any building over 75 years old that were used as a regular gathering place, like Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
"For the next year, we want to have the Toledo Planning Commission study these buildings that could possibly be demolished and determine if there's a historical value, determine the condition of them, determine the uses that could happen," Toledo City Council member George Sarantou said.
Sarantou said the city wants to make sure there is no alternative use for the historical buildings in the city before destroying them, and that the moratorium is impacting multiple historic buildings.
The Diocese of Toledo said in a statement that it carried out "a lengthy and comprehensive due diligence process, including multiple town hall meetings, engagement with parish membership, leadership and other stakeholders, along with engineering studies which revealed severe structural damage."
There have been previous offers made to buy the east Toledo church, but they did not meet the diocese's requirements.
"The Diocese will have no choice but to pursue legal action to protect its First Amendment religious freedom rights, which almost certainly would cost the City considerable taxpayer funds in legal fees," the diocese said in the statement. "We would hope that reason will prevail, and that City Council will rescind the ban and concentrate on addressing the critical issues facing our City instead of interfering in matters which are within neither its purview nor authority."
Sarantou said if another use could be found for the church, the city does not have the money to make an investment.
"The city is not in a position financially to be doing that, but we are in a position to evaluate with our own planning commission what exactly the potential is for a site like that," Sarantou said. "Maybe there's people that would come forward, knowing that it's not going to be demolished right away."
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