Abandoned LDS Churches

[ByronMarchant]

I seem to remember there being a really beautiful old Mormon church building in Washington DC at the church ended up needing to abandon maybe because the church was not thriving at the time. I can't remember what other organization took over the building – but if I remember correctly it was a large stone building. I'll try to find a picture.

In any case, the Salt Lake Tribune article yesterday about how the Mormon Church's growth is rapidly declining – especially in United States – makes me wonder if we will see a day when the church is forced to abandon buildings. It seems like there would be considerable financial loss involved in the sale of these buildings, but maybe I am wrong.

See attached photo of abandoned LDS Church. Apparently they sold it to the Moonies of all people! Wtf. And it was sold in 1977. Maybe the Moonies just made a great offer.

IMG_0518.jpg

[PaloAltoCougar]

I attended church in that awesome building in '75 during BYU's annual Washington Seminar. Interesting that it was acquired by an organization I litigated against a few years later. And I wouldn't be too concerned about the church sustaining "considerable financial losses" on real estate in urban areas that it has held for decades.

[ByronMarchant]

I attended church in that awesome building in '75 during BYU's annual Washington Seminar. Interesting that it was acquired by an organization I litigated against a few years later. And I wouldn't be too concerned about the church sustaining "considerable financial losses" on real estate in urban areas that it has held for decades.

Why did you litigate against the moonies??

Sounds interesting.

That might be a good story to tell.

[Applejack]

I seem to remember there being a really beautiful old Mormon church building in Washington DC at the church ended up needing to abandon maybe because the church was not thriving at the time. I can't remember what other organization took over the building – but if I remember correctly it was a large stone building. I'll try to find a picture.

In any case, the Salt Lake Tribune article yesterday about how the Mormon Church's growth is rapidly declining – especially in United States – makes me wonder if we will see a day when the church is forced to abandon buildings. It seems like there would be considerable financial loss involved in the sale of these buildings, but maybe I am wrong.

See attached photo of abandoned LDS Church. Apparently they sold it to the Moonies of all people! Wtf. And it was sold in 1977. Maybe the Moonies just made a great offer.

[ATTACH]7643[/ATTACH]

Thanks Bryon for starting this great thread.

The church you speak of is still standing, though it is in a state of disrepair. Whenever we have someone from Salt Lake visit us we take them to see the old building. Apparently, it was made with the same stone as the SLC temple (birdseye granite), shipped in from SLC! that most have cost a pretty penny. There are some cool stained glass windows of Joseph Smith. The moonies have added a bizarre fountain. Everything else is unchanged, but crumbling. Inside, what is obviously a sacrament hall has been transformed into a big common room, with the odd sleeping bag here and there.

The rumor is that the church in the 70s was looking for a spot for a temple. The Stake Prez (I think it was a Marriott) wanted to relocate that building to the suburbs because he was worried about "the neighborhood." It worked, and the ward was moved to Kensington () while this historic, awesome building was sold to the Moonies (although it was apparently Columbia Records, acting as a front for the Moonies, who actually bought it).

[DrumNFeather]

Thanks Bryon for starting this great thread.

The church you speak of is still standing, though it is in a state of disrepair. Whenever we have someone from Salt Lake visit us we take them to see the old building. Apparently, it was made with the same stone as the SLC temple (birdseye granite), shipped in from SLC! that most have cost a pretty penny. There are some cool stained glass windows of Joseph Smith. The moonies have added a bizarre fountain. Everything else is unchanged, but crumbling. Inside, what is obviously a sacrament hall has been transformed into a big common room, with the odd sleeping bag here and there.

The rumor is that the church in the 70s was looking for a spot for a temple. The Stake Prez (I think it was a Marriott) wanted to relocate that building to the suburbs because he was worried about "the neighborhood." It worked, and the ward was moved to Kensington () while this historic, awesome building was sold to the Moonies (although it was apparently Columbia Records, acting as a front for the Moonies, who actually bought it). There is

Plus, we bought the building on King Street in Alexandria, which was not originally an LDS chapel, no way, no how!

Before we moved from VA, I remember the SP telling our ward that basically your building has to be over capacity for quite some time before a new building will be built. Perhaps the contingencies are already in place.

[myboynoah]

Thanks Bryon for starting this great thread.

The church you speak of is still standing, though it is in a state of disrepair. Whenever we have someone from Salt Lake visit us we take them to see the old building. Apparently, it was made with the same stone as the SLC temple (birdseye granite), shipped in from SLC! that most have cost a pretty penny. There are some cool stained glass windows of Joseph Smith. The moonies have added a bizarre fountain. Everything else is unchanged, but crumbling. Inside, what is obviously a sacrament hall has been transformed into a big common room, with the odd sleeping bag here and there.

The rumor is that the church in the 70s was looking for a spot for a temple. The Stake Prez (I think it was a Marriott) wanted to relocate that building to the suburbs because he was worried about "the neighborhood." It worked, and the ward was moved to Kensington () while this historic, awesome building was sold to the Moonies (although it was apparently Columbia Records, acting as a front for the Moonies, who actually bought it). There is

There is WHAT?!?!?!?

When we lived in the DC area we heard that yes, they were concerned about the neighborhood and safety. Also, the granite didn't do well in hot, humid DC. lol at Columbia Records and the Moonies.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Why did you litigate against the moonies??

Sounds interesting.

That might be a good story to tell.

Not that great a story, but I learned a lot. The Unification Church, through an organization called New Education Development Systems, bought a run down hot springs resort in Napa County that they intended to use as a recruitment center for people interesting in joining the Moonies (a good movie about this process, characterized as brainwashing by most critics, is Ticket to Heaven starring Kim Cattrall in one of her first roles). The good citizens of Napa wanted nothing to do with the Moonies, and the county supervisors denied them a use permit, claiming their proposed use violated zoning laws. Suits were filed in federal and state court alleging First Amendment violations, but we (the county hired my first firm, Orrick Herrington) prevailed at trial and the Moonies had to abandon their planned use. They sold the property a few years later.

Highlights of the trial were televised and, although several Orrick attorneys worked on the case, I was at the counsel table with the supervising partner the day the TV cameras were rolling. Because I was several inches taller than thesupervising partner, and just happened to sit up and lean forward whenever the cameras were on, it appeared I was running the show; not bad for a second-year associate.

Despite elicitng some very damaging testimony from one of the organization's lieutenants, I was thought by the Moonies to be the most sympathetic among their legal adversaries, in part because they assumed that as a Mormon (they did their homework), I was quite a bit like them. They loved to engage me in conversation (with their counsel present) about the similarities between the Moonies and Mormons, something I suspect BM and SU would have enjoyed. As with Scientology, there are similarities, but the differences were and are very striking as well.

After the case had ended, the County took us out to dinner. I remember the County Counsel being very complimentary, noting with perhaps just a hint of sarcasm, "If I ever have another case requiring outside help, and have another $2,000,000 [in 2016 dollars] to spend, I won't hesitate to hire you guys."

[LVAllen]

I seem to remember there being a really beautiful old Mormon church building in Washington DC at the church ended up needing to abandon maybe because the church was not thriving at the time. I can't remember what other organization took over the building – but if I remember correctly it was a large stone building. I'll try to find a picture.

In any case, the Salt Lake Tribune article yesterday about how the Mormon Church's growth is rapidly declining – especially in United States – makes me wonder if we will see a day when the church is forced to abandon buildings. It seems like there would be considerable financial loss involved in the sale of these buildings, but maybe I am wrong.

See attached photo of abandoned LDS Church. Apparently they sold it to the Moonies of all people! Wtf. And it was sold in 1977. Maybe the Moonies just made a great offer.

[ATTACH]7643[/ATTACH]

Selling off old, unneeded church buildings is not exactly a new practice. The first chapel in Las Vegas was built in 1925. When the 1st Ward outgrew it, they sold it to a branch in Boulder City. The old chapel was jacked up, sawn in half, and trucked out to its new location and reassembled. 30 years later, it was sold again once the Boulder City ward outgrew it and built a new chapel. This time, a Protestant church jacked it up and trucked it to Las Vegas. It's currently in use by St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

https://goo.gl/maps/VyaoNijFTc52

[byu71]

I seem to remember there being a really beautiful old Mormon church building in Washington DC at the church ended up needing to abandon maybe because the church was not thriving at the time. I can't remember what other organization took over the building – but if I remember correctly it was a large stone building. I'll try to find a picture.

In any case, the Salt Lake Tribune article yesterday about how the Mormon Church's growth is rapidly declining – especially in United States – makes me wonder if we will see a day when the church is forced to abandon buildings. It seems like there would be considerable financial loss involved in the sale of these buildings, but maybe I am wrong.

See attached photo of abandoned LDS Church. Apparently they sold it to the Moonies of all people! Wtf. And it was sold in 1977. Maybe the Moonies just made a great offer.

[ATTACH]7643[/ATTACH]

Church growth is rapidly declining. I wonder what that means. It could have been growing at 10% and now is growing at say 5%. 5% isn't a bad number. Like anything else, rapid growth is not sustainable. Just ask those that invested in Iomega in the 80's.

[Goatnapper'96]

I seem to remember there being a really beautiful old Mormon church building in Washington DC at the church ended up needing to abandon maybe because the church was not thriving at the time. I can't remember what other organization took over the building – but if I remember correctly it was a large stone building. I'll try to find a picture.

In any case, the Salt Lake Tribune article yesterday about how the Mormon Church's growth is rapidly declining – especially in United States – makes me wonder if we will see a day when the church is forced to abandon buildings. It seems like there would be considerable financial loss involved in the sale of these buildings, but maybe I am wrong.

See attached photo of abandoned LDS Church. Apparently they sold it to the Moonies of all people! Wtf. And it was sold in 1977. Maybe the Moonies just made a great offer.

[ATTACH]7643[/ATTACH]

My brother in law turned the original LDS Chapel in our small town into a house he lived in for a number of years before selling it to the family who still lives there. The Church had donated the chapel to the school in the late 80's after it had built the building the ward currently uses. The School District owned it for about 12 years before he bought it in the late 90's and then he refurbished it in 2001.

To be honest as my travels take me through many rural LDS communities I have spotted many old LDS Chapels that have been turned into homes. I did business with the crazy old crodger who owned Beehive Telephone and he bought the old LDS chapel in Lake Pointe which he both lived in and used as an office building for his rural telecom before they bought the local elementary school and then built their own building - although the old chapel is still part of their campus and used for storage I think.

Of course that has nothing to do with the prime real estate assets the Church has in more urban areas than Lake Pointe, UT and Rockland, ID.

[kccougar]

Also, the granite didn't do well in hot, humid DC.

That's because it's not granite. It's basically a limestone (sedimentary vs igneous ). The stone came from Utah, but it isn't the granite that the SL Temple is constructed from and it is only a facade.

[kccougar]

I guarantee the Church made a bundle of money when they sold the land where the Ensign 4th Ward chapel stood on the Avenues in SLC for several custom home sites.

[myboynoah]

That's because it's not granite. It's basically a limestone (sedimentary vs igneous ). The stone came from Utah, but it isn't the granite that the SL Temple is constructed from and it is only a facade.

lol at Columbia Records and the Moonies.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Let's see here. Through this thread I have learned that the church isn't actually shrinking, but the rate of growth has slowed. Also, the building in DC wasn't sold because the church was shrinking ("because the church was not thriving at the time"), rather it was sold because the church selected a different location.

Interesting. Thanks, Bryan!

[Omaha 680]

Cool thread. This isn't as striking as the building in the OP, but the original American Fork Second Ward Meetinghouse was built in 1904. It was sold in 1984 and now houses Bigelow and Company Organ Builders.

american fork.jpg