San Jose Catholic church to be demolished due to lack of maintenance

The safety of parishioners is a greater concern than preserving history-

that history being the 104-year-old San Jose Catholic Church.

Back in September, ABC-7 showed that the San Jose Catholic Church was falling apart.

According to church officials, plans are underway to demolish the Church which is located in El Paso’s lower valley.

Now, sadness colors the emotions of San Jose Catholic Church parishioners.

One resident of the San Jose community, Lydia Dekelly, told ABC-7 she and her husband actually bought their home to be nearer to the church they’ve attended for years.

By next week, that church will no longer exist.

Last year the El Paso Diocese closed the church for what were said to be minor structural problems.

“A structural study will just show that in fact the inside of the building is fine and it’s just the outside of the building that needs to be addressed.” That is what spokeswoman for the El Paso Catholic Diocese, Elizabeth O’Hara told ABC-7 back in September of 2015.

Now, a lack of maintenance is cited for the inability to salvage the building.

“Parishioners are in charge of their parish, and so they have to do things like typical maintenance and some years ago some maintenance that was supposed to have been done on the church was not done,” O’Hara said.

“Things like roofing, making sure that the windowsills weren’t leaking and those kind of things, and it was left unattended,” O’Hara said.

The Diocese brought in engineers to evaluate the situation. They said quick fixes in years past doomed the adobe structure and at this point the church would not be repairable.

So what is the future of San Jose Catholic Church?

O’Hara said the decision of what’s going to happen to San Jose Catholic Church has not been made.

Bishop Mark Seitz issued a statement saying he is sad to see the much-loved adobe church go, but at a certain point it is time to say goodbye.

The demolition will begin Monday.