Demolition has begun at Engaging Heaven Church on Union Street in New London after a steeple on the 200-year-old church collapsed on Thursday.
A crane was brought in on Friday and there is now a gaping hole where the front of the house of worship stood.
City officials said the entire church will need to be demolished, and it could take several days.
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Firefighters and a structural engineer used a ladder truck to inspect the church from above on Friday afternoon before the demolition started.
Parts of State Street, Union Street and Masonic Street remain closed on Friday. City officials say they're working out issues with traffic and parking downtown.
Engaging Heaven Church owns the downtown New London church, which was built in 1810. An addition was added in 1975, according to property records.
The steeple that toppled Thursday was a local landmark.
"The skyline in the city has permanently changed and we lost a significant piece of history," Mayor Michael Passero said.
“From where I live over on Huntington Street, look over the parking garage over here and I could see the steeple. When I looked out this morning, it’s gone,” Ken Sentell, of New London, said.
It’s not clear what caused the steeple to collapse. City officials said they are working to preserve as much evidence as possible to help determine the cause.
The mayor went on to say that there are a number of structures the city hopes to inspect following this incident. However, there's no reason to believe any other buildings are structurally compromised.
Passero said it was one of the oldest religious structures in the city.
“We've suffered a very serious setback here in downtown New London with the loss of one of the oldest and and certainly one of the most gorgeous religious structures in the city,” Passero said.
Engaging Heaven Church said one woman was inside when the church collapsed and she was able to get out safely. No one else was inside.
This image shows what the church looked like before and after the steeple collapsed.
The church is right next to New London City Hall and the Manwaring Building, where Connecticut College students live, and the students have been evacuated.
"Yeah. So, I'm, I'm just sitting on my couch and I hear what sounds like the loudest thunder I've ever heard. And I opened my blinds and see a bunch of dust and rocks rolling down that hill, right there in front of the church. And I kind of got up and ran away from the window thinking that the church was collapsing," Nick Musi, a Connecticut College student, said.
Fifty students were evacuated and have been relocated to the New London Holiday Inn and the New London Red Cross will be helping the students. They will not be able to return to the dorm before demolition is fully complete.
Engaging Heaven Church services will be held at the Garde Arts Theatre this Sunday. After that, the church will utilize the Salvation Army to conduct business.
Human Resources Director Jeanne Milstein said the church serves breakfast and lunch to about 70 people each day. The police department delivered breakfast sandwiches to those in need this morning.
"Our community is so resilient and I cannot even begin to describe the outpouring of support we've received," Milstein said.
People who witnessed the collapse described what they saw.
“I was sitting in my car and I heard a huge, thunderous sound. And I looked to my left and when I first looked at the church it was whole and in that split second, the whole middle part of the church just collapsed,” Lester Harris, of New London, said.
During a news conference on Friday, Fire Marshal Vernon Saau said the last inspection done at the church was in January 2019. At that time, there were three minor violations that were immediately fixed.
Inspections are supposed to be conducted every two years, but the pandemic "threw a wrinkle in the inspection process," according to the mayor.
