WICKER PARK — A developer who had planned to turn the former Mision Cristiana Church into a pair of single-family homes and two townhomes said Tuesday that he and his business partner are devastated over the partial collapse of the structure.
The city ordered demolition of the entire site on Monday.
"It’s devastating for us. We were doing everything and anything possible to save this structure and keep it as a landmark of the neighborhood," said Igor Blumin.
Blumin, who bought the church at 1903-1905 W. Schiller St. last year with business partner Alex Zdanov, said he does not know what caused the center of the massive church spanning three addresses at the corner of Schiller Street and Evergreen Avenue to collapse.
"It's all speculation, all in the rubble right now. We think the wall collapsed by itself. Obviously it’s an old structure. I don’t have the answer, maybe we will never find out," Blumin said.
Blumin said that there was a common wall between two buildings, at 1907 and 1909 West Schiller Street and what may have happened is that the partition wall between those two buildings collapsed and caused the roof to cave in and damage the church.
Raymond Valadez, chief of staff to Ald. Joe Moreno (1st), said Tuesday that Blumin and Zdanov will need to go back to the community to begin the process for building on the site again.
Since the site includes three adjacent addresses, Blumin wanted to emphasize that he had originally applied for interior demolition and then three separate permits for the construction because there are three addresses for the church.
Blumin said he had gotten permits to do work at 1909 and 1911 W. Schiller St. in early September and was waiting on permits for 1907 W. Schiller St.
Blumin said he and Zdanov are planning to meet with neighborhood and "discuss different possibilities" and want those conversations to take place "sooner than later."
The first priority, Blumin said, is to make everything secure, clear the site and remove any hazards.
Blumin estimated that clean up, including making sure the corner is "tightly secured with fences to make sure nobody has direct access," could take up to a week.
“Safety was our main concern and we are sorry that this happened," Blumin said. He added, "It could not have happened at a better time, in middle of night, with nobody walking by."
The church's cross and some of its stained glass windows were given to a member of the board of Holy Resurrection Serbian Church in Humboldt Park and Palmer St in Chicago, according to Blumin.
Blumin shared the following permits with DNAinfo:
Related stories:
Church Collapse in Wicker Park Sounded Like an Earthquake (Oct. 24, 2016)
Mision Cristiana Church Will Soon Be Town Homes, 2-Single Familly Homes (April 21, 2015)
Church, Industrial Building Available for Condo Development in Wicker (Sept. 23, 2013)
Rendering of the initially proposed redevelopment at Mision Cristiana Church, 1903-05 W. Schiller St.. The developer has hoped to build two single-family homes and two town homes on the lot. [John Conrad Schiess]
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