At its Oct. 1 public hearing, the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission unanimously denied a petition by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis to demolish the historic Holy Cross Catholic Church and its rectory.
The church was closed in 2014 and the congregation merged into St. Philip Neri Catholic Church. The property was brought under the umbrella of the IHPC in 2024.
IHPC staff recommended the buildings not be demolished due to, among several reasons, because of their architectural significance in the city, and because of the buildings’ significance to the character of the Holy Cross neighborhood.
Officials with St. Philip Neri, which owns the buildings, disagreed with the IHPC assessment that the buildings were economically salvageable, and said they would take the matter to the courts on the basis of separation of church and state.
More on this issue coming in the November edition of Urban Times.
