CLEVELAND — The City of Cleveland will demolish a historic church destroyed by fire Thursday morning, according to a city spokesperson.
News 5 reported flames broke out at the Pentecostal Determine Church of God on Miles Park Avenue on the city's east side shortly before 7 a.m.
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The building was already condemned, said Tyler Sinclair, Communications Strategist, City of Cleveland.
Cleveland has worked for years to demolish vacant and abandoned properties in the city, but there are still thousands of problem properties.
A survey conducted last year by the City of Cleveland graded 4835 properties a D or F.
Out of those properties, 1576 were condemned.
The city has demolished 660 properties since Jan. 1, 2023, said Sinclair.
Ed McDonald is a self-described abandoned building activist.
He said he has recorded and posted videos of vacant and abandoned structures for more than six years to bring the properties to the city's attention.
"Vagrants and all kinds of people can get into those properties, especially kids," he said.
He said he recorded drone footage of the Pentecostal Determine Church of God last year.
"That building, in particular, was very dangerous because the roof had fallen off," he said.
"All I know is I had asked for it to be boarded up and it wasn't," he said. "I feel like if it was boarded up, we don't have what happened this morning."
No word yet on whether the property was already scheduled for demolition prior to this morning's fire.
No one from the city was available for an on-camera interview Thursday.
