HYDE PARK — Another developer has backed away from plans to restore the fire-damaged Shrine of Christ the King.
Sean Cannon of Venue One said Friday he was backing away from his proposal to restore the church at 6401 S. Woodlawn Ave. as a community center.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has repeatedly said it plans to demolish the church as soon as possible, over protests of neighbors and preservationists.
“We were in fact interested in taking the property and rehabbing, but the archdiocese is not willing to give it to us,” Cannon said Friday. “At this point I'd rather stay out of it and not get involved as it is ‘like beating a dead horse.’”
Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago, had courted Cannon to pitch a restoration to the archdiocese. Many interested in saving the church were hoping Cannon would pay to stabilize the church to buy time for more fundraising and planning.
Earlier this week, other developers who had initially shown interest in restoring the church also said they were no longer interested.
Ald. Willie Cochran (20th) has supported efforts to save the church but said preservationists needed to find someone to stabilize the structure and eliminate the danger of it collapsing.
Susan Burritt, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, declined to answer questions and said the archdiocese position remained the same — that it could not afford to restore the church and planned to pursue demolition as soon as the permits are issued.
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