INDIANAPOLIS — An east Indianapolis neighborhood is now celebrating a small victory.
The Church of the Holy Cross, which has sat vacant at 125 North Oriental Street since holding its final mass in 2016, has officially been designated a state historic site.
The Metropolitan Development Commission voted April 17 to designate the church a historic site. The Archdiocese wanted to tear the church down, citing financial concerns. However, residents in the area fought to save the church.
Now, the church is safe from demolition.
"To demolish this beautiful structure would be an insult to the memory of the artisans who crafted it," said Tim O'Sullivan, of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, to the commission in March.
The church officially closed in 2014 but held its last mass in 2016.
"The Holy Cross Church is an important, not only religious property, but institution in it's neighborhood," Mark Dollase, vice president of preservation services, said earlier this year.
