Lexington church seeks to demolish several long-vacant downtown buildings
Demolition permits have been filed for three downtown Lexington buildings in a long-vacant block.
Calvary Baptist Church has requested demolition permits for the buildings at 212 and 216 South Limestone, as well as 240 Rodes Ave.
The buildings on Limestone have been vacant for most of the 2020s. One was home to Hanna’s on Lime, a staple of Lexington’s downtown dining scene for decades before its 2019 closure. The sign for Hanna’s still is impressed on one of the building’s windows.
While Calvary Baptist Church has not responded to the Herald-Leader’s questions about their plans for the properties, the Bluegrass Trust for Historic Preservation said in a Facebook post the church plans to develop greenspace on the Limestone properties.
The nonprofit argues the building at 240 Rodes Ave. in particular is historic and worth preserving, as it is “a stellar example of Queen Anne architecture and the last surviving house in the once-desirable Rodes Subdivision.”
“(The church’s) leadership was receptive to our suggestion of salvaging the historic features at 240 Rodes,” the Facebook post read.
Calvary Baptist Church has owned both the Limestone properties since the 1990s. The church also owns several other properties adjacent to the building, many of which are surface parking lots.
