State halts demolition of New Road church, citing asbestos risks

Asbestos concerns have paused the demolition of a vacant church building near Crestview Park that had become a camp for homeless people.

A contractor working for owner Matthew McLeod filed the necessary city permits Aug. 12 for demolition. About a third of the structure at 720 North New Road had been reduced to rubble by Aug. 21, when construction was halted by state inspection officials.

Air quality tests carried out since then showed no danger of asbestos contamination to the surrounding areas, said the demolition contractor, who asked not to be identified in this story.

Inside of St. Matthew Lutheran Church next door to the demolition, air quality was also tested and deemed safe, church member Sharon Gripp said by phone Wednesday. Details about those tests were not immediately available as of Wednesday.

The site has been fenced, and the demolition contractor has set up a system to sprinkle water over the rubble to prevent asbestos ps from becoming airborne, according to the contractor and city officials.

McLeod said he had provided his contractor with site survey that indicated that the structure had no asbestos.

An asbestos inspector with the Texas Department of State Health Services for the Waco area halted the work Aug. 21 after finding that his agency had not received the notifications required before a structure containing asbestos can be demolished.

The contractor said he then contacted city officials and learned that the city had a detailed site survey that indicated the church was built using asbestos. He said he obtained that survey and changed his demolition plans accordingly.

By the end of this week the contractor plans to have the rubble from what has been demolished so far properly removed to a site appropriate for asbestos disposal. The contractor also has plans to proceed with demolition using methods and equipment appropriate to the asbestos for the rest of the demolition.

McLeod, a real estate agent and developer, bought the property as part of a partnership in March 2020, records show. In an interview, he said he and his partners had planned to convert the structure into apartments.

Members of St. Matthew Lutheran next door complained to McLeod in late 2020 and early 2021 that vagrants had been camping and lighting fires in the abandoned church, Gripp said.

McLeod said Monday that Waco police told him he could not threaten the people camping on the property. At intervals when it was empty, he said he had heavy grates welded over the windows and barred the doors to keep people out.

Waco's Building Standards Commission on Jan. 10 ordered the building demolished after hearing from city staff about the condition of the building and holding a public hearing for owners, lienholders and other interested parties.

McLeod said he was not informed of that meeting and did not learn about the demolition order until afterward.

The city mails notices for properties appearing before the commission to owners and lienholders, city officials said.

The building was constructed in 1956 as Cogdell Memorial United Methodist Church, which moved to a new location in 1996 because it had no room at the site to grow, according to the church's website.

Waco Baptist Academy occupied the site until 2014, when it was sold to a church, Promiseland Waco, according to county records. It is unclear how long the structure was vacant when McLeod bought it.

A staff inspection summary of the building's condition provided in the Building Standards Commission minutes showed about 50 categories of noncompliance with city codes and gave September 2023 as the deadline for compliance.

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