Gothic-revival Ardmore church faces demolition

After 89 years, the First Baptist Church in Ardmore may have to come down. And the community that supports it is finding it hard to let go.

The Lower Merion Township Zoning Hearing Board has denied developer Wally Smerconish's request to turn the church into condos, which would keep the building intact. Smerconish, a real-estate developer whose brother is the nationally syndicated radio host and Inquirer columnist Michael Smerconish, has been forced to apply for a demolition permit.

The gray-stone Gothic-revival style church at 120 E. Athens Ave. was completed in June 1923 and sponsors youth groups, missionary trips, choir and music programs, as well as weekly Bible study. The First Baptist's congregation is also among the most diverse on the Main Line, with members hailing from such places as the Congo, Peru, India, South Africa, and Italy.

However, the church was put up for sale last July because its congregation, loyal but small, could no longer support it. Few buyers expressed interest in the property because of the lack of parking and the township residents' desire to preserve at least the exterior of the historic structure.

Smerconish, who is from Haverford, proposed turning the interior of the church into five single-family condominiums while preserving the exterior facade as much as possible.

"It's a brilliant idea," said Ardmore resident and shop owner Sherry Tillman, before the verdict. "I know people feel they want to keep the fabric of the neighborhood the same, and this is a way to do that."

Tillman, who lives close to the church, felt strongly about the preservation aspect of Smerconish's plan.

"We've torn down so much in this country that we'll never get back," she said. "We already have these great old buildings, and we should be reuse them."

The problem is that the property is currently zoned R-4, which only permits single-family detached dwellings. Smerconish applied for a use variance from the township Zoning Hearing Board, which would allow the condos to go forward, but the board turned it down on June 14.

"It's a regrettable decision, because I really went out of my way to try and preserve it and work with it," Smerconish said. "But at this point, I've had to apply for a demolition permit," which he did this week.

"It's a shame because the zoning board had an opportunity to do something great for the community, and it didn't work out," Smerconish said.

Teri Simon, a former member of the Lower Merion Planning Commission and the current president of the Wynnewood Civic Association, said the township needed to upadate its comprehensive plan to help it revise zoning ordinances. Lower Merion Township has not revised its comprehensive plan since 1979.

"As a township, we haven't been up to date on this, and as a result the church may have to be demolished," Simon said. "And that's just a shame."

Simon added that community support for Smerconish's project made the ruling all the more upsetting.

"We should be coming up with a zoning law that makes sense," Simon said. "We need more good housing in Lower Merion that could be deemed affordable, and this is such an interesting and innovative use of that historic property — doesn't this make more sense?"

The Zoning Hearing Board's decision said the request was denied because Smerconish "failed to meet the heavy burden of proving unnecessary hardship for a use variance."

Because of the physical conditions of the property, Smerconish would have had to prove there was no possibility that the "... property can be developed in strict conformity with the zoning ordinance and that a variance is needed to enable reasonable use of the property," as the Municipalities Planning Code states.

Many residents, though, feel that Smerconish's plan is one of the few viable uses of the property.

"It can't continue as a church — the congregation is just too small, and there's no parking," Tillman said.

"Here's someone who wants to do something good for the community, and he can't because of the zoning laws," Tillman said. "And unfortunately, there are a lot of old churches that we see around that will probably have the same fate. It's a shame."

Contact writer Anna Strong at

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