Demolition beginning on 16th and South church

In recent years, there have been a number of churches demolished around South Philly. At the same time, the African Baptist Church at 16th and Christian was saved from a similar fate, with the developer’s plans including the reuse of the historic church.

Another Graduate Hospital church location is getting ready for development, but this 16th and South church will not be reused. The former Christian Faith Evangelistic Alliance church is now heading towards demolition to make way for five condos.

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And perhaps that’s why, when developers presented plans to demolish the building earlier this year, nobody expressed much aggravation about the idea. At the SOSNA meeting regarding the project, the discussion centered around whether a retail use on the first floor would be appropriate because of the building’s proximity to South Street West, but neighboring residents had no interest in commercial activity here. Ultimately, the developer decided to build five condo units here, and the ZBA granted the variance several months ago. Demolition is now slowly moving forward.