Proposal to save Bay View church suggests replacing building with mixed-use space, including 55 apartments
CBS 58 MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Unity Lutheran Church on Oklahoma Avenue in Bay View has been standing since 1939.
Over the years, the church has continued to lose members of its congregation.
“We have lively ministries going on here, and a very healthy congregation, but it's a smaller size membership than when this building was built,” Pastor Kevan Penvose said.
On top of losing members, the church is struggling to keep up with the costs of the building.
“The building has decades of deferred maintenance, and our annual budgets are always tight,” Penvose said.
The church has been discussing a strategic vision process to try to save the church.
The current proposal is to work with a developer for a land lease that would take down the current building and replace it with a 55-unit apartment building, with part of it left for the church.
“A new space for the church, smaller footprint for the size of our membership, and still able to do all our ministries,” Penvose said. “The other part of that mixed-use would be apartments -- 55 apartments with internal parking to provide for it.”
People living nearby are worried about the potential impact of 55 new apartments in their quiet neighborhood.
“Not happy at all, very concerned,” Bay View resident Theresa Barnes said. “It’s gonna be a mess, I feel. People traveling, visiting, staying, commuting to work, where they park, how vacant will it be, how are they gonna keep it up?”
Church volunteers say something has to happen to save it.
“The building has been falling apart for years; it's not a secret. Our population here is elderly who are coming, we need to do something,” volunteer Meredith Wittmann said.
