From pews to parking: can plans to turn a historic Richmond church into asphalt be stopped?

A beautiful historic building being demolished and replaced with a parking lot is sadly not a unique story for American downtowns. Such a tragic tale does, however, feel more appropriately set in the post-WWII ascension of the automobile, not in 2022 when local leaders nationwide are searching for ways to reinvigorate desolate city centers.

Unless hotelier Bill Goodwin can be convinced to pursue adaptive reuse or if his demolition permit is revoked in less than a month, a parking lot could replace the imposing neoclassical Second Baptist Church in Richmond’s Monroe Ward.

Pave paradise, put up a parking lot

For more than a century, a Franklin Street address has carried with it a certain cache in Richmond. Picturesque apartments, grand homes, and stately institutions offer a glimpse of the pomp and prosperity that defined the rebirth of the former capital of the Confederacy. As racist fears of school integration and white flight drained Virginia’s capital of people and resources, large swathes of Monroe Ward were razed in favor of flat asphalt for parking due to the neighborhood’s relative proximity to downtown.

After decades of destroying Richmond’s fine urban fabric in favor of car storage, Second Baptist Church is the only structure left standing on the entire block of Franklin Street between Adams and Foushee. Surface lots dominate three entire city blocks around the Jefferson Hotel, but for the church’s owner, Bill Goodwin, that may not be enough.

Goodwin purchased Second Baptist in the 1980s with the intent of turning the parcel into parking. Built in 1906 by the famed architecture firm Noland and Baskervill, the church’s Greco-Roman design modeling the Virginia State Capitol was deemed too historically significant to lose by Richmond’s Commission of Architectural Review. In 1992, Goodwin successfully lobbied City Council to override the commission’s ruling and issue a “certificate of appropriateness” to allow the property’s razing.

The price of repair

In February 2022, the City of Richmond decided that the 30-year-old demolition permit was still valid. A day later, Historic Richmond issued an alert that the property was once again in danger. The uproar from residents confused as to how such a grandiose structure could become a parking lot triggered a wave of protests that saw hundreds of people marching in front of the Jefferson Hotel and calling for a boycott of the hotel, which is also owned by Goodwin. The kerfuffle also led councilmembers Stephanie Lynch of the 5th district and Andreas Addison of the 1st district to get involved, eventually brokering a 90-day stay on the church’s demolition.

How does a three-decades-old demolition permit stay valid to this day?

It shouldn’t according to Lynch. “If Second Baptist is torn down, you could never ever recreate this line of historical Noland and Baskerville buildings that are unique to Richmond,” she said. “If this structure were to get demoed it would be the first because all other organizations have pursued adaptive reuse to maintain the character of the West Franklin Street Historic District.”

The nearly three-month reprieve allowed Historic Richmond time to review the building’s blueprints and do an in-person assessment of the site to come up with adaptive reuse options instead of a total demolition. With the 90-day period ending on May 19, that list of alternatives is expected as soon as next week.

The decades of neglect under Goodwin’s ownership have done Second Baptist no favors. Historic Richmond’s site visit was delayed due to the need for asbestos mitigation, and all parties agree that the roof presents structural issues that need to be addressed. Other adaptive reuse renovations of buildings in the historic district proved cheaper and easier because they weren’t allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair.

“No one knows the total price tag to do an adaptive reuse of the building, but it’s fair to assume quite a bit of money would need to be invested,” explained Lynch. “It’s cheaper to demo it and build a new parking lot, but that’s not the highest or best use of this site. We can’t dictate what developers do on their private property; however, as a city, we should have some say on how buildings conform to a sense of place appropriate for our downtown and historic districts.”

Lacking any easy legal solutions to the situation, Second Baptist’s best hope is that Goodwin agrees to one of Historic Richmond’s adaptive reuse ideas. If the architectural gem does end up as asphalt, Lynch believes city residents will quickly come to regret it: “Historical architecture is one of those things that people don’t always appreciate when it’s there, but they certainly miss it when it’s not.”