NEW LONDON, Conn. — In many ways it looked like dozens of other churches that dot the New England landscape, grey granite, with a steeple reaching to the heavens.
The church in New London that collapsed around 1:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon suddenly stood out from the crowd when the roof over the nave and the center steeple portion of the front façade fell in noise and dust. No one was injured.
At one time the building housed the First Congregational Church, but more recently it was the home of the Engaging Heaven Church.
The granite building stood for more than 170 years at the corner of Union and State Street. Perched on a small hill, and set back from the street, Mayor Michael Passero said in an evening press conference that the church will be missed.
There were no known structural problems with the building.
It survived the Hurricane of 1938 that devastated much of the surrounding city.
Although the damage impacted the church itself, the one story addition was also rendered unusable according to the mayor.
The church will be demolished.
Doug Stewart is a Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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