Paradise Valley's Ascension Lutheran Church, a structure blending heritage and architectural grandeur, is soon to become a memory to make space for a designer neighborhood. However, a last-minute community effort has ensured that the church's 77-foot spire, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice, William Wesley Peters, will not share the building's doomed fate. According to ABC15, the spire will be moved and preserved even as the church itself succumbs to demolition.
With the spire set to be relocated next week by The Guild, a segment of 180 Degrees Design + Build, there are mixed feelings among local residents. Upon hearing that the church was sold off last year, Paradise Valley Councilwoman Christine Labelle, spurred by community sentiment and attempting to save the spire, told Phoenix Business Journal, “When we read your article last year, a lot of people were not happy to hear one of the oldest and architecturally significant buildings was going to go on the chopping block and be torn down.” The structure, a recognizable fixture at 7100 N. Mockingbird Lane since 1961, will pave the way for five homes, estimated to fetch prices between $15 million and $20 million.
Scott Jarson, who grew up less than a mile from the church and is the owner and president of AZ Architecture/Jarson & Jarson Real Estate, reflected on the property as more than bricks and mortar. “To me, in some ways, it's the gateway to the heart of Paradise Valley,” Jarson said. The sentiment is echoed in the collective effort to salvage the spire as a nod to the area’s cultural and architectural past. Jay Mecray of the residential development team noted that preserving the spire is a costly endeavor, with investments tipping over the $1 million mark for its dismantling and transport, which the developers have agreed to fund.
While the future of the spire post-move is not yet concrete, the town of Paradise Valley has conceded to house it temporarily. Speaking with the optimism that characterizes civic engagement, Labelle mentioned before the Town Council, that the citizens group is only halfway there. Despite their goal not being fully realized, having preferred the church's preservation in its entirety, the group will pitch a fiscal plan and argument for a more permanent spire placement at the council's next meeting in September.
