A nearly 80-foot steel spire that once crowned Ascension Lutheran Church has spent the past two years sitting in storage at Paradise Valley's public works yards, waiting for a new home. Now the Save the Spire committee says it has raised about a third of the $750,000 needed to permanently install the landmark at the Paradise Valley Town Hall campus, with hopes of breaking ground early in 2027.
The spire has been without its original perch since Ascension Lutheran Church was sold for demolition, according to 12News. The church, designed in the early 1960s by Taliesin Associated Architects — the firm founded by apprentices of Frank Lloyd Wright — once stood at 7100 N. Mockingbird Lane before the property was razed to make way for an exclusive community of five luxury homes, according to ABC15. A real estate source cited by that station called the church one of the most significant designs produced by Taliesin Associated Architects following Frank Lloyd Wright's death in 1959.
The spire had sat atop the church since 1964 and served as a recognizable landmark in Paradise Valley for more than 60 years, per the Arizona Digital Free Press. Catherine Kaufman, chair of the town's Historical Advisory Committee, said the structure helped people recognize they were approaching Paradise Valley, according to 12News. Save the Spire, a group formed by residents and community leaders, worked to save the spire from demolition in 2024, and the town later accepted guardianship of it after volunteers developed a plan to relocate it onto town property.
Town Council Signs Off on a Permanent Perch
The Paradise Valley Town Council passed a resolution approving the spire's permanent placement at the town hall complex on May 14, according to the Paradise Valley Independent, though that report does not specify the year of the vote. The council approved the move 6-1, with Council Member Scott Moore dissenting, the outlet reported. Once installed, the spire will be relocated between Paradise Valley Town Hall, the police department and public works, per 12News, with Mayor Mark Stanton and Vice Mayor Christine LaBelle — also a Save the Spire committee member — among the town officials involved.
Over the summer, the committee refined its installation plans for the municipal complex site, incorporating feedback from the Town Council and town staff ahead of a Sept. 10 check-in, the Paradise Valley Independent reported in late August. The installation is planned to include a supporting plinth sized so it does not overwhelm the structure, and the spire will retain a color similar to its original appearance at Ascension Lutheran Church, reflecting desert tones, according to 12News.
Fundraising Push and Conflicting Height Figures
Save the Spire has launched a fundraiser hoping to raise $750,000 for the spire's new home, and the committee has so far raised about a third of that total, according to 12News. The Arizona Digital Free Press separately reported that Save the Spire had secured $180,000 in leadership donations toward the project. LaBelle said the fundraising supports physical rebuilding and safety work, per 12News, while the campaign supports the spire's new home.
Reports differ on exactly how tall the structure is. 12News describes it as a 78-foot steel landmark, a figure that matches the Arizona Digital Free Press's description of a spire designed by William Wesley Peters of Taliesin Associated Architects. But the Paradise Valley Independent's August report described the original structure as a 92-foot spire, adding that the proposed installation at the Town Hall Municipal Complex would sit at roughly 78 feet tall plus a 6-foot base. The Phoenix Business Journal, meanwhile, reported in 2024 that the church featured a 77-foot steel spire. The discrepancy between those figures has not been resolved in available reporting.
What Comes Next
Over two years, the Save the Spire group secured donated expertise, materials and volunteer labor to carefully remove and protect the structure, according to the Arizona Digital Free Press. With the committee now hoping to break ground early in 2027, Kaufman and other local leaders have framed the spire's eventual installation as a way to give the town a new focal point while preserving a piece of its architectural history.
