FIRST ONSITE and Sunesis has advised that heavy equipment is being transported Tuesday morning and assembled onsite in the afternoon. Controlled demolition of the tower will begin Wednesday morning.
|
FIRST ONSITE and Sunesis has advised that ODOT has not yet released the transport permit for the heavy equipment due to 6 bridges that must be inspected along the proposed main route and alternate route to the site. ODOT anticipates having these inspections completed by Monday afternoon. The carrier is on standby to begin transport Tuesday Morning and operational staff to begin assembly of the equipment. Controlled demolition of the tower will follow.
The collapse of the St. John Church west wall and concern that the tower could also collapse and fall onto SR 119 are serious safety issues requiring immediate action. FIRST ONSITE explored options to remove the upper portion of the tower, but structural engineers and demolition teams were concerned that could not be done safely. They have advised controlled demolition. Unfortunately, it is no longer safe nor prudent to keep the remaining church structure. Fr. Ken and the St. John Building Committee met Tuesday night to discuss demolition and what else may be preserved from the church, if possible.
Safety Alert: St. John the Baptist Church Update
Many parishioners may have already seen or heard that the west wall of St. John the Baptist Church collapsed due to high winds. This has compromised the integrity of the remaining structure. FIRST ONSITE and structural engineers are concerned that the tower could also collapse and fall onto SR 119.  The presentation slides from the Q&A Session with the script can be found here >> community_meeting_with_script.pdf  The Building Committee
 How is the insurance claim being handled for St. John the Baptist Church fire?
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati is self-insured and employs Gallagher Bassett as their Third Party Administrator to manage most insurance claims. For catastrophic losses exceeding $500,000, the Archdiocese has excess insurance coverage in the commercial market, with Sedgwick serving as the claims administrator for these complex, high-value claims. Insurance payouts are categorized into distinct areas. The first category covers mitigation costs, which include all the work done on St. John Church to date, i.e. fencing and securing the site, removing the bells and large debris with cranes, and crews to clean the debris out of church. These mitigation expenses are separate from and do not reduce the funds available for repairing or rebuilding the church. There is a category to repair or rebuild the church and a separate category for church contents. There are additional categories for the rectory repair and rectory contents.  The Archdiocese of Cincinnati and FIRST ONSITE had given initial approval to offer opportunities for parishioners and others to walk through St. John the Baptist Church. Fr. Ken had mentioned this at several of the Marion Community Masses this past weekend. Unfortunately, after further review and consultation regarding the potential hazards and risks, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and FIRST ONSITE have deemed the church structure presents too many insurance risks and is not safe to accommodate groups of parishioners and others walking through St. John Church. We are sorry that we are not able to offer this walk through opportunity. We will work on a video of the inside of the church to post on the St. John the Baptist Church Fire and Recovery website page.
 FIRST ONSITE crews began retrieving sacred items and removing large debris the day after the fire. Crews began sifting through and removing smaller debris June 23rd with the last of the fire debris removed on August 11th. Over 200 tons of debris was removed from the church along with scrap metal that has been recycled. Crews were not able to remove debris from the NW sacristy due to unsafe door headers and walls nor from the bell tower platform and above that was heavily damaged.
|
On May 29, 2025, there was a devastating fire at our beloved and historic St. John the Baptist church in Maria Stein, OH. This page is where pertinent updates about the recovery efforts will be shared. We ask that you would support us with your prayers! If you would also like to financially support the recovery efforts you may do so online using the link above. 
Building Committee Minutes
July 2026
Categories |
RSS Feed