On Friday, the city of Cleveland cordoned off the area around St. Theodosius Orthodox Cathedral on Starkweather Avenue after a member of the church told the city one of the domes was swaying.
The historic church on the city's West Side, which was featured in the 1978 film "The Deer Hunter," was damaged in a fire on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the church said the large dome needs to come down and will likely need to be dismantled.
The dome is probably not repairable and likely can’t be salvaged for any new structure that would go back on top of the church, said John Zdinak, the immediate past dean of St. Theodosius.
“The structure is very compromised. It’s actually leaning about six inches now and not solid,” Zdinak said. “In the deconstruction, we have to make sure we don’t damage what is still solid and firm.”
On Friday afternoon, the church was waiting for a crane to arrive to stabilize the dome, but Zdinak said he was unsure the crane would arrive that day.
“It’s this close to collapsing now, and I never thought I would see it," he said. "It was a nightmare, but you never thought you’d see something like that.”
The church and some adjacent properties were evacuated Friday morning "out of an abundance of caution," according to a statement from a city spokesperson. Officials asked the public to avoid the area, while the church's engineers and contractors worked to address the issue.
The city said it does not believe the church is in danger of collapse and said it does not anticipate the "need to demolish anything."
The police closed West 7th Street between Professor Avenue and Starkweather Avenue in the Tremont neighborhood. The area is expected to remain closed until Sunday, June 2, to give the on-site engineers and contractors for the church time to resolve the issue, according the spokesperson.
Crews using a cherry picker to inspect the dome of St. Theodosius Orthodox Cathedral. CPD has the block around the church taped off. @Ideastream pic.twitter.com/9JYARhvFdx
— J. Nungesser (@cjnungesser) May 31, 2024
Read the full statement here:
The City was notified earlier today by one of the members of the church that one of the steeples appeared to be swaying in the wind. The Cleveland Division of Fire and Department of Building & Housing responded immediately to assess the situation. Out of an abundance of caution, the church was evacuated as well as some adjacent properties. At this time, we’re not anticipating that we will need to demolish anything and do not believe the church is in danger of collapse as initial information indicates the structural integrity of the building is intact. However, this information is preliminary and thus subject to change as the situation evolves and additional evaluations are completed.
We are taking every measure to ensure the safety of everyone in the neighborhood and ask the community to avoid the area by using additional routes for transportation as the Division of Police has closed West 7th Street between Professor Avenue and Starkweather Avenue. Engineers and contractors for the church are on site and actively working to resolve this issue. It is anticipated the closure will remain in effect until Sunday, June 2.
Roofers accidentally ignited the Tuesday blaze, according to the Cleveland Division of Fire.
St. Theodosius sustained an estimated $1 million in damage, said John Kearns with the Cleveland Fire Department. Damage includes smoke and water damage. No one was injured.
Rev. Jan Cizmar, cathedral dean, along with other clergy and neighbors collected holy items from the cathedral Tuesday, according to the Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America’s website.
People “were going inside and removing artifacts, relics, religious items, everything like that,” Kearns said. “Kind of at the direction of the priest or clergyman that was on scene.”
The historic cathedral
The church was founded in 1896 by Russian immigrants and built between 1911 and 1912, depicting Russian architecture, according to the church's website. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
