Residents concerned after part of Mount Washington church collapses

People are concerned about an old deteriorating church property in Mount Washington, and they're scared it will only get worse as extreme weather continues to move through the area.

Jeffrey Carder, the president of the Mount Washington Historical Society, feared the stone wall in front of the old Mount Washington Congregational Church would come crumbling down, with visible cracks in the structure that continue to grow.

"This could fall into the street right here," Carder said. "All of this wall is leaning. This is not safe."

The church has sat off Southern Avenue since the 1800s and has remained unoccupied for years.

In recent weeks, the region has experienced multiple storms. Then, another big one ripped through the neighborhood on Tuesday. The heavy rainfall caused part of the property to collapse, with debris falling onto the sidewalk and some of the street.

Carder and others are concerned about the stability of the rest.

"The way they got it blocked off, in my opinion, isn't efficient enough," Carder said.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of State and Allegheny County real estate records, a nonprofit called Covenant Church PGH LTD bought the property in December 2024 for $10,000 from Covenant Church on the Hill, which purchased it in 2006 from Mount Washington Community Church. Mount Washington Community Church had owned it since 1950.

The records show the current owners have yet to pay their taxes this year.

There are also for sale signs on the property, and a listing through Howard Hanna for nearly $500,000. The listing agent told KDKA-TV they're aware of the situation and the property owner "is actively working to mobilize a qualified crew to assess the extent of the damage." In the meantime, they took the listing down temporarily.

Pittsburgh Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith of District 2 represents the neighborhood.

"They feel that it broke at the tension point," Kail-Smith said.

Kail-Smith said an employee with the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure determined because of that, they don't believe there's a concern for more deterioration, but an inspector with Permits, Licenses, and Inspections will do a further assessment Friday, which could lead to potential citations.

A spokesperson for the mayor's office told KDKA they are not able to provide any information due to the Juneteenth holiday.

"I think it's incumbent upon the people that own them to fix things, that taxpayers shouldn't be on the hook to fix your property. You bought it, but if you're not going to take care of it, then I think we should have something in place where we can take those properties," Kail-Smith said.

Kail-Smith said this isn't the only property in this situation, and it's time for city departments to work more cohesively to solve the problem.

In the meantime, Carder urges someone to take care of the property sooner rather than later.

"I think they should be back up here as soon as possible and clean this up," Carder said.

KDKA is working to track down the people behind the current nonprofit that owns the property to ask them questions and address the situation.