The future of Bethany Deaf Church is once again unclear as the property was put back on the market in mid May. The church building is located at 310 E. Argonne Drive.
Teri Nicely of Keller Williams Realty is the building's selling agent. She said the property had been under contract since early December 2008. The prospective buyers, Dick and Lorraine Escue, had planned to tear the building down and build a single-family home on the 13,144 square-foot lot.
Because the church falls within the Jefferson-Argonne Historic District, the buyers were required to seek permission for demolition from the Kirkwood Landmarks Commission. With no objections from the community, the commission gave the buyers permission to raze the building and construct a new single-family home on the lot.
As prospective owners began further researching their plan, they found that a sewer line runs through the middle of the property where they intended to build. Nicely said the owners opted not to purchase the property because of the increased cost of moving the sewer line.
The property, which was first put on the market in November 2008, is back on the market. Nicely said the property has been "getting interest again."
"We've had multiple showings, some by the same party," Nicely said. "A buyer could use it as is or it could be torn down and a house placed where the church is, or they could move the sewer line."
Bethany Deaf Church has owned the building since March 1991. The church has consolidated to its current location in Chesterfield.
From its construction in 1904, the building has been used as a choral hall, school of arts, American Legion Hall and church.
