Wow, my first message on this site. Hopefully other memembers of the ENA will begin using it.

Anyway, I am starting a thread on the situtation with the church on East Harris Blvd. across from the empty lots that border our neighborhood. There has been a lot of rumor and speculation about it's progress and the possibilty of a parking lot going in across the street in what are now the three empty lots near the New Hope Baptist Church.

All, I know for sure right now is that the project appears to be a mess. This is the second contractor that has been brought in and there are (according to my expert source) several severe structural problems with the church. As it is now, it should never pass inspection, which leaves us with a half finished wreck of a building-par for the course in Charlotte, I am afraid.

I will post furhter developments as I investigae the matter further.

Further Updates

It's been a while since we have had any information on this building but a recent article in the Charlotte Obsever has uncovered some very uncomfortable facts.

The owners of this property, The Red Branch Baptist Church (704) 10641 Blair Road, charlotte NC 28227 336-2673 have apparently run out of money and can not afford to finish this half built and extremely unsafe looking structure.

According to the article, the County has very little enforcement power in this regardm as long as the oweners appear to be making a good faith effort to finish the project. Since it is not clear when or even if this project will ever have sufficient funds, I would say this is taking 'good faith' to all new levels of verbal contortion.

Those homeowners on either side of East Harris Blvd near the Church should contact their neighborhood associations and the county to express their concern.

Just a little more information

Although nothing much is happening with this structure (it remains half built and falling apart) there may be a move on within the city/county government to do something about it. The President of the ENA, Dennis Murphy had a discussion with the head of code enforcement for the City of Charlotte at a Partner's East meeting in September 2005 about the state of the building. He promised to look into the problem for us. No offical word so far but apparently the oweners of the property have been trying to raise money to complete the project.

It is a waste of time, in my opinion. The entire structure is unsafe and not salvagable and needs to come down.

Still Futher Updates

At long last, it appears that the ongoing saga of the wreck of a church structure on WT Harris Blvd. across the street from the neighborhood is coming to a close. According to ENA Board member Deanna Long, who attended a city meeting in late September, the Church has been condemned and the process to get it torn down is in motion. It could be slated for demolition as early as March, 2007.