The building that last housed the Grace of God Church of Deliverance at 2121 E. Cumberland St. is no more. In fact, it was demolished several months ago, we just didn't get over there to snap a photo since the demolition took place until the other day. The building was quite sizable and its absence is very apparent.
When we last visited this corner about half a year ago, we shared news of the Parish House project from Red Oak Builders, the back of which you can see in the photo above. That very cool project, in case you don't remember, will mean the renovation of the church's former parish house into five townhomes. Also as part of that project, the developers have renovated a building next door to the old parish house on Firth Street and they're building a new single-family home on Cumberland.
At the time of our last visit, we weren't sure what was happening with the old church, we just knew that it was owned by other developers. Per a commenter, the building, as handsome as it was, had been poorly maintained over the years and looked like it could have had some structural problems. Another reuse project would have been great, but you can see how the old parish house more evidently lends itself to that approach.
With the church now demolished, six homes will now rise in its place with three homes on Cumberland and three homes on Collins Street. The developers got a variance for this project at the end of February, which tells us that they should be moving forward with construction in the next few months. Parking isn't mentioned in the zoning application, but we have to assume that each home will have some kind of parking, it would be a shock for a project of this size to not include some kind of parking element.
For images of the church getting demolished earlier this year, click here for a story from the Spirit of the Riverwards.