LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Looking down into a 188-year-old church, the Sky11 Drone showed the burnt out roof hiding behind the stone face of St. Paul's church in downtown Louisville.
The building, facing East Broadway near Norton's medical campus, was used by the hospital in the past, according to Steve Wiser.
"They don't build 'em like this anymore, and this can be saved. It's a beautiful structure, it's built solidly," he recalled, pointing out gargoyles atop the stone tower that used to pelt people who passed by.
Wiser, president of the Louisville Historical Society, still has hope the building will stand. He pushed for its landmark designation over 30 years ago in the hopes it'd stay.
"The authenticity is what we're looking for here," he explained. "Not so much the fake facades. The authentic facades is what we'd like to see be saved."
It's authentically Louisville, Wiser said, because of architects Clark and Loomis. They worked on the Conrad-Caldwell house in Old Louisville, and many of the Carnegie libraries.
"And this is one of their signature churches that they designed," he added.
Its future was uncertain as the fire kept flaring up Wednesday night, flames bursting out of the church's stone tower as fire ate away at the nearby rectory.
The next afternoon, firefighters still surveyed the scene for any remaining embers. Some folks stopped to see the aftermath, with plenty visiting the night of the fire.
"As soon as we walked out the door, we smelled the smoke," Brayden Glenn remembered, making the five-block walk back to the scene of the fire with father Malik Glenn.
"This is the biggest fire me and or my daddy ever seen," Brayden said. "Because the nursing home fire, it didn't take all night. It took a couple minutes," he added, recalling a separate fire in his neighborhood they'd walked out to see.
Malik's tired of seeing the building empty. However, the current owners have been difficult to reach.
Bought under the Kentucky Medical Center Hotel name, now the secretary of state's website says the corporation is in bad standing and could have their business license revoked.
Louisville Metro Codes and Regulations records show inspectors visited the church 24 times in the last three years. Most recently, issuing violations against the owners for improperly boarding up a gate to the rear side of the building six days before the fire.
"We did have reports of one possible victim. We tried to locate the victim and get them to a med unit but they did flee the scene," Captain Donovan Sims with the Louisville Fire Department said.
The event is now fueling hope something else could move in.
"So maybe this will force the out-of-town owner to sell it," Wiser added, hinting at another historical group whose member would be interested in buying.
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