Apparently, a nice LDS meeting house in the Los Angeles area partially burned two years ago. And the building sits gathering graffiti because TSCC hasn't decided what to do.

I find that interesting. One would expect if the congregation(s) using the building were thriving, TSCC would be eager to get the building back on line. I'm guessing that's not the case.

https://www.theeastsiderla.com/2017/04/glassell-park-mormon-church-remains-in-ruins/

Unless you're unfortunate enough to own a home in a community that is blighted by the burned out structure, I'd say a burned out Mormon church is otherwise okay in my book.

I'm sure this is a business decision by LD$, Inc. If the property isn't bringing in the requisite coin via tithing, etc., then the Corporation will cut its losses and walk away from their unproductive investment.

I've seen vandalized or weather damaged buildings before.

If the congregation is thriving, then in my experience the church rebuilds or repairs and adds another layer of security to the building. Taller stronger fences for example, or window bars on the windows round the back.

There was a couple of buildings in Scotland that looked more like military compounds because they needed so much protection from bored local youth. Eventually after multiple vandalisms the church cut their loses and sold the buildings.

The congregations were not strong enough to justify the continued existence of the ward given the sheer amount of money that was required to frequently repair the damage.

If the structure suffered its untoward condition from lightning, then the Brethren accept it as the Lord's will. The building will remain in disrepair until the Savior returns to salvage it.

Another possibility is that Brigham Young (an arsonist) may have directed the fatal bolt.

http://holyfetch.com/brigham-young-destroys-temple-after-his-death/

We had two terrible church fires nearby, a Baptist church and a Catholic church. Although damage was extensive in both cases, the interior gutted, both rebuilt fairly quickly and look better than ever. Both these churches had many social programs and strong, engaged congregations. It is hard to imagine a church left as a ruin here. If it could not be fixed it would be torn down and rebuilt, or the land used for other purposes.

>Update on April 25: Caso says the church has decided to demolish the structure. “The building will be demolished in the next 10 days,” she said in an email. “Demolition will last anywhere from 60-90 days.”


Should come as no surprise that TSCC has decided not to rebuild a chapel in the middle of a predominately Hispanic neighborhood that likely has a serious dearth of active members.

“The building will be demolished in the next 10 days,”


“Demolition will last anywhere from 60-90 days.”


Well .... which is it ?

<<...served a large Spanish-speaking congregation...>>

Ah, well there's the reason it was neglected.

I actually called this at the time of the fire.

Ethnic succession in the area had made that location unprofitable to repair. It might have been closed in a few years even without the fire.

The ward I used to attend had a few breakins (the building itself and cars parked in car park at night when chapel was being used) so they had lighting installed

There's a chapel near here--still in use with apparently healthy wards--where the relevant Elders' Quorums have to patrol the parking lot during the day. I'm not sure what they do at night...

It's a very nice building, I think from the 1940s, although it's been excessively remodeled in current Mormon style. The immediate neighborhood has really turned, essentially into meth central for much of the city.