May 8 Akron Vacant Commercial or Industrial Building Appeals Board meeting
Covered by Documenter Benjamin Rexroad (see his notes here)
Members of the Akron Vacant Commercial or Industrial Building Appeals Board voted May 8 to demolish a vacant church. The white clapboarded, single-steepled, one-story church was built in 1928 and is located at 1042 Yale St. in the Summit Lake neighborhood.
The partially boarded-up building features a hand-lettered sign out front that reads “The Church of the Nomadic Spirit.” A Google Image search shows a 2011 photograph with a sign promoting the C.M.E. Christian Temple Church.
CME stands for Christian Methodist Episcopal, which is a congregation started as the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America in 1870, according to Encyclopedia.com. This historically Black church was formed in Tennessee after the Civil War by formerly enslaved people who wanted to leave the Methodist Episcopal Church-South.
“They realized that continued membership in the church of their former masters was neither desirable nor practical and requested their own separate and independent church,” according to the website’s article.
Tax records list two owners for vacant church
The Christian Temple Christian Methodist Church of Painesville and the Episcopal Church of Akron are listed as owners of the Summit Lake property, according to Summit County tax records. The current owner purchased the property in 1969.
On May 6, Jodie Forester, a supervisor with the Akron Housing Compliance Division, inspected the exterior of the property. She found broken windows, damage to the front steps, retaining wall and doors, and missing handrails and downspouts.
“There has been no compliance with orders issued against this property,” she told the board at its monthly meeting. The property “is vacant, found open on numerous occasions, is heavily vandalized, dilapidated, the scene of police activity.” She also said it has become a “haven for the homeless” and has been the site of unauthorized encampments.
Furthermore, she said that the property is tax delinquent and is not registered in Akron’s Vacant Building Registry.
Back taxes, assessments owed on property
Tax records reveal an amount due of just over $8,000, with more than $6,000 of that past due. The property is listed as a tax-exempt religious property by the county. The last recorded payment to the Summit County Fiscal office is from September 2021 for $250.
In addition to taxes, there are multiple unpaid special assessments. These include charges for grass cutting, for resurfacing and for securing a vacant property. The amount owed for these 2023 assessments is $1,749.52.
The Rev. Bruce B. Gibson of Painesville spoke to the board about the property. He is listed on the county property records as the person receiving mail regarding this property.
Gibson told the board that he has been incapacitated “for quite some time” due to medical issues. He said that the trustees of the church are meeting soon to discuss what to do with the property.
Board members asked about his plans for the building. Gibson said that he’d like to sell the church to a Cuyahoga Falls woman, but he offered no more details.
Forester said there was an attempt to sell the church in August 2022 but that the deal did not go through. Gibson said the person trying to sell the property at that time was not authorized to do so.
Community members work to keep up property
Another community member told the board that they and a group of area residents have been taking care of the property with hopes of turning the building into a community center and garden. They told the board that they had no formal connection to the property.
“We’ve been working hard to remove the trash, we’ve made sure no one was breaking in, we’ve tried to secure the building,” they said.
There was confusion among this informal group about the ownership of the building and what they could do regarding upkeep of the property. They’ve recently made repairs to the retaining wall and were planning to fix the steps and handrail.
“We hoped that we could do something great for the neighborhood, for something that has been shuttered for years,” they said in response to board questions.
Council president: vacant church is a ‘hazard for the community’
Akron City Council President and Ward 3 Council Member Margo Sommerville applauded these efforts but said it’s not their responsibility. Over the past four years she has received numerous complaints. These especially came from property owners around the church concerned about tenant safety.
“It has proved to be problematic and a hazard for the community, the fact that the city has had no one to hold responsible and accountable for that property,” Sommerville told the board. “The community has dealt with this blight for far too long.”
Sommerville spoke about the city’s efforts to revitalize the Summit Lake neighborhood and said that this church is “problematic” in regard to those efforts.
The board voted unanimously to recommend demolition of the building. The owners have the right to appeal to the city before the property is listed for demolition.
