Central Presbyterian Church

[Brett]

The Central Presbyterian Church has been sold and will be torn down.

https://oklahoman.com/article/567675...o-be-torn-down

Central Presbyterian church was my polling location and I was glad to see it one last time when I voted in the presidential election. I had noticed that the building and parking lot needed repair but was surprised by the above article that the congregation elected to disband and sell the property.

[shawnw]

That's a pretty prominent corner. With a demo I presume something is already slated to go there, any clues?

[Bellaboo]

That's a pretty prominent corner. With a demo I presume something is already slated to go there, any clues?

I think there is a Walgreens across the street, so it has to be a CVS........ j/k

[TheTravellers]

I think there is a Walgreens across the street, so it has to be a CVS........ j/k

There's already one of those there too, on the SW corner.

[Bellaboo]

There's already one of those there too, on the SW corner.

Well that's par for the course.

[Ward]

That's sad to see. I briefly dated the daughter of the Pastor in the late 70's.

[Pete]

My polling place!

But I'm not at all surprised, as I've made the point many times about these bigger churches that were built in the middle of the last century.

1) Fewer people are attending church; 2) A lot of people who went to those churches growing up have moved to the outskirts; 3) The tens of thousands attending mega-churches have to come from somewhere.

Every time I vote in that church it just has the smell of neglect and lack of use; it's sad and depressing. And there are dozens if not hundreds of similar properties all over OKC. Get ready for lots of them to close and change hands.

[Pete]

It's interesting because just north of this church was an old car dealership. That is another business that has seen a lot of change and contraction.

That car lot became Dave & Busters, a strip center and Whataburger and Jack in the Box.

To the south at 39th & May, another car dealership became Sam's Club, although part of it is still a horrible looking lot.


You just know that a lot of these big-box retailers are going to start closing as well. Steinmart in nearby Mayfair already has and there will be a lot more to follow.

[Pete]

BTW, that Oklahoman article says they once had 1,100 in their congregation and now they only have 30.

30!!


Just to the east along NW 50th is Mayfair Baptist, Saint Stephens Presbyterian (yes, a 2nd Pres church just a few blocks away) and Mayfair Church of Christ.

I live nearby and all those are big churches with big parking lots that are almost empty on Sunday mornings.

Hundreds of churches in OKC are in the same boat.

[PoliSciGuy]

BTW, that Oklahoman article says they once had 1,100 in their congregation and now they only have 30.

30!!


Just to the east along NW 50th is Mayfair Baptist, Saint Stephens Presbyterian (yes, a 2nd Pres church just a few blocks away and Mayfair Church of Christ.

I live nearby and all those are big churches with big parking lots that are almost empty on Sunday mornings.

Hundreds of churches in OKC are in the same boat.

Are you referring to what you saw even before the pandemic, or was this just within the last few months? I wouldn't be surprised either way, mainline protestantism is definitely on the wane, even here in the buckle of the Bible belt.

[Pete]

Are you referring to what you saw even before the pandemic, or was this just within the last few months? I wouldn't be surprised either way, mainline protestantism is definitely on the wane, even here in the buckle of the Bible belt.

Before the pandemic.

That's why I'm saying there is going to be an absolute avalanche of church properties meeting the same fate very soon.

Almost all these places were built and/or greatly enlarged in the 60's and 70's.

[Pete]

Central Pres:

[Ward]

It's interesting because just north of this church was an old car dealership. That is another business that has seen a lot of change and contraction.

That car lot became Dave & Busters, a strip center and Whataburger and Jack in the Box.

To the south at 39th & May, another car dealership became Sam's Club, although part of it is still a horrible looking lot.

Further south down May, to NW 28th & May, was Fretwell Volvo and Jaguar. It always seemed odd to see a car dealership on a tiny piece of land, especially in that part of town. Benchmark Motors bought it out and moved it to NW 13th & Broadway where it joined the Mercedes dealership.

You just know that a lot of these big-box retailers are going to start closing as well. Steinmart in nearby Mayfair already has and there will be a lot more to follow.

That was Smicklas Chevrolet, just north of the church building. That location had a lot of land, I want to say something like 13 acres, it was a lot, really way too much for the dealership. I worked there for 3 years once upon a time.. 5301 N May, phone 943-5721. Seems odd to remember the address and phone.

The Sam's site @ 39th & May was Lynn Hickey Dodge. Dub Richardson Ford was where Lowes is now.
.

[Pete]

^

Thanks for that! I remember all that now that I've heard the names.

Yes, this was back when A) there were a lot more American car dealerships; and B) before those that remained headed to Edmond or Norman.

There is still Metro Ford on the SE corner of 39th & May. I wonder how their business is these days.

[Ward]

^^^^^ Metro Ford has changed names, something like 5 times or so, since that dealership building was built. It changes ownership frequently, which seems odd. David Stanley had it for awhile. In fact, David Stanley also had a Commercial Ford location where the OnCue is now @ NW 36th & May. We used to go in there to pickup our new company fleet cars.

[Ward]

Come to think of it, sorry about detouring the Church Building story, here I am rambling about old New Car Dealerships in the area.

[Dob Hooligan]

Seems to me that in the post war era church preference has become kinda like popular entertainment. People chose their type of music and lifestyle in their teens and twenties and then stay with it throughout their adult lives. Young people aren’t supposed to like their parents music, hair and clothes. Style of worship is another area of change, IMO.

[krisb]

My office is in the 5100 Brookline building. Will be curious to see how that corner develops.

[Pete]

I've been following this and there still has not been a recorded sale.

No idea if the planned sale is still on track.

[Pete]

This property sold on 3/3 for $2.45 million.

Buyer was Precor, which is Nick Preftakes.


The rumored plan is complete demolition and redevelopment into a commercial project of some sort.

There goes my polling place!

[shawnw]

yay more strip malls and fast food pads probably

[Dob Hooligan]

yay more strip malls and fast food pads probably

Preftakes has generally been a responsible, local developer. What would you like to see on the site? Honest question.

[snark0leptic]

There goes my polling place!

Comes join us at Christ Central Church just east of there.

[shawnw]

Preftakes has generally been a responsible, local developer. What would you like to see on the site? Honest question.

I'm pretty open. This is just the last structure that masses at the corner with the parking behind it. Would be nice to keep that sort of thing instead of contributing to this sea of parking fronting May like we have everywhere else at this corner...

[Plutonic Panda]

Preftakes has generally been a responsible, local developer. What would you like to see on the site? Honest question.

It’s be nice to change the bar in this area and push any building to the curb with parking in the back and give it character instead of a cookie cutter design.

Nothing against churches but it would be nice to see some demolished so there isn’t one on every corner lol.