Historic Former OH Church Erupts in Flames

April 19, 2018
A historic former Akron church went up in flames late Wednesday night in a fire that took emergency crews hours to get under control.

April 19 — A historic former Akron church with an uncertain future went up in flames late Wednesday night in a fire that took emergency crews hours to get under control.

The Akron Fire Department received a report around 11:30 of smoke and flames coming from the unused stone building, the old St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, at 354 E. Market St.

The fire quickly grew to a two-alarm blaze Thursday, and escalated to a three-alarm fire.

Fire crews are expected to be on the scene throughout the day Thursday and East Market Street will be closed at North Forge Street for the day, according to a news release from the fire department.

The building — the oldest portion of which opened in 1885 — at the northern edge of the University of Akron campus is owned by UA, which previously housed its Ballet Center there.

The university had mothballed the property about ten years ago.

In 2016, UA put demolishing the property on a list of proposed capital projects for which it hoped to receive state money.

However, the fate of the building was in limbo as the university has not moved on forward on various projects on the list, including the demolition of the church. No state money has been granted for the demolition.

In 2006, UA vacated the building, moving Ballet Center operations to a new addition to Guzzetta Hall on campus.

The Ballet Center — the heart of UA’s Dance Program — had been housed at the old church for years, along with the Dance Institute — a pre-professional program for students in elementary school and high school — and the former Ohio Ballet professional dance company.

The church is actually two buildings connected by a wood-frame breezeway, with the older portion being the former parish house/Sunday school. The newer portion opened in 1909.

The congregation remained at Market and Forge until 1952, when it moved to the church’s present location on West Market Street in West Akron.

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(c)2018 the Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) Visit the Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) at www.ohio.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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