Historic preservationists march in front of The Jefferson Hotel Feb. 12 after learning that the hotel's owner, Historic Hotels of Richmond, plans to raze Second Baptist Church next door.
A few dozen people are milling about in front of Second Baptist Church on West Franklin Street, readying for the march. It’s a good day for a protest — last Saturday afternoon, temperatures were pushing 70 degrees — despite the circumstances.
Late last week Historic Richmond issued a call to action after the city decided that a 30-year demolition permit to tear down the church, built in 1906, was still valid. The grand old church, located in a City Old and Historic District, was back on the chopping block. Historic preservationists mobilized.
The property’s owner, Bill Goodwin’s Historic Hotels of Richmond, had filed for a new demolition permit to take down Second Baptist in the fall of 2021. After an initial review, city officials said the permit must first clear the Commission of Architectural Review.
Then the lawyers got involved, and the city changed its position. After a second look, it was decided that the initial permit granted in 1992 still stood, igniting a new round of angst and anger among historic preservationists over the church’s seemingly imminent demise. At the rally on Saturday, protestors loudly walked past The Jefferson Hotel and Lemaire restaurant, ringing a cowbell and goading patrons as they entered the hotel lobby: “Shame on Bill Goodwin! Shame on The Jefferson!”
The fight is reminiscent of the early 1990s. Back then, Goodwin’s company was granted permission to demolish the property for a parking lot. CAR had denied the request, but City Council overruled the decision and allowed demolition to go forward.
Preservationists fought back. Council’s decision so infuriated architect Robert Winthrop that he resigned from the commission in protest, calling City Council “an accessory to an act of vandalism,” according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
All the bad publicity led Historic Hotels to put demolition plans on ice. It explored other options, including rehabbing the church and turning the building into offices, a conference center and possibly a gym, Historic Hotels’ former president, the late Beverley “Booty” Armstrong, told the Times-Dispatch in 1992. But they couldn’t make the numbers work. The company wound up using the building for storage.
“It’s really a Roman temple,” says Michael Phillips, a preservation activist who helped organize the rally on Saturday. The church, perhaps the city’s finest example of Classical Revival architecture, was designed by prominent architect William Churchill Noland, who modeled the building after the Maison Carrée in Nimes, France. With monumental steps and a columned portico, it’s considered one of Noland’s masterpieces.
“There’s no way that anything like that will ever be built again,” says Richmond architect Charles Aquino, adding that it’s ironic that Historic Hotels, whose Jefferson Hotel has prospered by leveraging its historical significance, would decide Second Baptist isn’t worth saving. “We tear that down, it’s gone forever.”
Preservationists rally on Feb. 12 in front of Second Baptist Church, which again faces demolition by the property's owner, Historic Hotels of Richmond.
City Councilwoman Ellen Robertson, whose district includes Second Baptist, says there’s still a chance Second Baptist won’t be razed.
“The administration has reached out to the owners, and I think they are willing to have a conversation,” she says. A meeting could take place later this week or next, she says. “Hopefully, we will be able to have some positive communication.”
An email and phone call to Historic Hotels wasn’t returned by press time. Goodwin, however, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in December that the building has deteriorated to the point where it’s become a safety hazard. His company couldn’t devise a plan to reuse the building that was economically feasible, he told the paper. “We have gone through every idea you can come up with, at least we could come up with, and none of it made financial or even close to financial sense,” Goodwin said.
Cyane Crump, executive director of Historic Richmond, said on Saturday that the property qualifies for federal and state historic tax credits, and that the nonprofit is willing to help Historic Hotels come up with a plan to rehab the structure.
After the rally on Saturday, and an outpouring of support to save Second Baptist, Phillips says there are signs that Goodwin might be willing to reconsider.
“That’s very good news that they are trying to set up a meeting with Mr. Goodwin to try and figure out a solution,” he says. “I’m cautiously optimistic that that meeting will be fruitful.”
He plans to continue applying pressure until there’s a “concrete plan” to save the old church.
“We are still kind of on red alert,” he says.
