One Florida church has taken economic redevelopment, crime and declining neighborhood pride into their own hands by purchasing dilapidated properties that surround their parish. By purchasing twenty lots surrounded by G, H, Lee and Gordon Streets, the four hundred member Zion Baptist Church hopes to turn the entire area around. The city of Brunswick has also stepped up, offering their support of the church's plans by providing the manpower to safely remove asbestos from the blighted properties.
Craig Campbell, Pastor of Zion Baptist Church hopes that by tearing down the ramshackle properties, it will breathe new life into the community. According to Campbell, the crime and drug activity was affecting the church so intimately where it struggled to offer evening services due to growing safety concerns. Further, dotting the block are rundown houses and storefronts with tangled trees and weeds – a type of place that attracts illicit and unwanted behavior.
To jumpstart the extensive redevelopment plans – which includes a “multipurpose complex” – the city is helping Zion Baptist Church to coordinate the abatement or removal of asbestos and potentially other toxic materials from the rundown buildings. Once the asbestos is safely removed, demolition can begin.
The donation of asbestos abatement services will save Zion Baptist Church nearly $10,000 in total demolition and redevelopment costs. Asbestos is a highly toxic material that is the leading cause of mesothelioma cancer, an industrial disease resulting from asbestos exposure. Removing asbestos from any property must be handled by professional abatement contractors, and since the city is undertaking the coordination of the asbestos abatement process, the redevelopment project will be handled according to local, state and federal regulations.
To help offset demolition and redevelopment costs, the Church is pursuing state and federal tax credits, and other supporting organizations. Campbell hopes that by the end of October, the asbestos and hazardous material abatement along with the demolition will be completed.