Kirk Martin of Bill Neuens Enterprises of Iron Mountain works to demolish a former church on the corner of West Brown Street and Carpenter Avenue in Iron Mountain, under direction of the Dickinson County Land Bank Authority. The property has been vacant for a number of years. (Iron Mountain Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — A long-vacant former church came down Wednesday morning after more than a century in central Iron Mountain.

Demolition of the building at 118 W. Brown St. had been a top priority for the Dickinson County Land Bank Authority. Bill Neuens Enterprises of Iron Mountain was awarded the contract for the project.

Up to $200,000 was available in a blight elimination program administered by the State Land Bank Authority and funded through the state’s 2023 fiscal year budget. The church was among three properties identified for removal, with the others being a house in Sagola Township and an old water tank at the end of Bradley Street in Iron Mountain.

This summer, local residents had a chance to purchase remnants of the church, including stained glass windows.

One of the last organizations to call the 1907-built brick structure home was the Salvation Army Bread of Life Assistance Center of Dickinson County. Volunteers believe the Salvation Army was in that location from 1980 to about 1991.

“We were able to get stained glass window from the church,” Salvation Army Director Tara Coss said. “It’s an important piece of our organization’s history.”

The cornerstone of the Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church was laid June 3, 1907, and the new church dedicated June 14, 1908.

In 1939, the name of the church was changed from Swedish Methodist to Wesley Methodist Church.

The Assembly of God Church purchased the Wesley Methodist Church, then the Trinity Methodist Church, in 1953.

The Assembly of God was the last congregation to worship in the building.

Public comments on The Daily News’ Facebook page expressed sadness and regret the historic church had been demolished, though several noted it had badly deteriorated after not being used or maintained.

“I understand that it has to come down,” Wendy Gagnon Zambon wrote. “But driving by it with generations in my family who saw it with the same eyes as we did? It gives one pause about our historical buildings. Which ones are salvageable? What can we do to preserve them? And if not, they do have to come down … repurpose what you can … it is a safety and dignity issue.”

Brenda Moltumyr-Harms wrote: “My husband pastored there in the ’70s when it was an Assembly of God church. Our son, Brynn Harms, was age two when we moved to Iron Mt. Sometimes he misbehaved during service and I would take him outside the front door to correct him as there were so many steps to go downstairs. Our daughter, Krista Harms Thomsen, was born while there. A wonderful senior lady we called Grandma Anderson would lay her on a pillow and if anyone wanted to hold her as an infant they had to use the pillow too. Such great memories and we will always be grateful the church body was willing to take the risk of a young couple being their pastor.”