Remains of church that collapsed in New London will have to be demolished

NEW LONDON, Conn. (WLNE) — Officials in New London said said that the entire Engaging Heaven Church will have to be demolished.

Emergency crews in continue to clean up the remains of the church, which collapsed Thursday.

Mayor Michael Passero said the city has spent the last day strategizing a demolition plan, investigating the insurance history of the building, and added that they can’t speculate on the cause of the collapse.

Officials also answered questions on inspections for the building, the last of which was in 2019, despite being on a two-year cycle.

Fire Marshal Vernon Skau blamed the long delay in a new inspection on “shifted resources” during the Covid-19 pandemic, and added that a basic fire inspection would not have caught the steeple issue.

He said the usual safety inspection is a general walkthrough of a building, and anything that is a violation of Connecticut state fire safety code is noted and then a correction plan is made.

Skau added that the last inspection found “three minor violations:” each with a fire alarm, an exit light, and an emergency light, but that it wouldn’t have been able to see “beyond walls” or in places a person wouldn’t have access to.

Officials added that the price to demolish the rest of the building is still unknown.