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The vacant St. Stephen Church could be used for an ethnic museum ghting all of the ethnic groups highlighting at 1102 Thomas Si., also has been "problematic that helped build South Bend. that described as a build- ing" for reuse, with its high cell- Orman said such museums have ings making it difficult to heat Proven successful in other commu- mties, but only after all of the ethnic and coal, Most of the building's religious gps in a,community support the artifacts have been donated to oth- er churches or sold to King Plan' However, museum attendance, ca - Richard's Religious Artifacts of At ",Ago, typ -call cities socias .Csaid. go, typically�is flat, Gibney said. lanta, a firm that specializes in,re-.. cycling Catholic church%interiors` t1,iP,eopie don: t.hang: out at,muse- cyclinga ; • • ; ; .:.. �...w,.......•:.._,..: All of the buildings.are iriProxim- All Many museums are trying to be- came social gathering places to be- in the same near west -side neigh-... borhood and would provide difficult . come.more successful, hosting din - challenges for reuse. ' "We're " ners and* wedding receptions to make additional money. d of in- not seeing the kind vestment we need to save these buildings, Gibney said. In the Staff waiter Terrence Bland: meantime, they get more and more tbland@sbtinfo.com , (574) 235-6337 dilapidated." . Some believe many of the build- , ings should be razed and cleared for residential development : Residential growth was Iargely the goal of the West Washing- ton/Chapin Revitalization, Pro- ject back in the 1980s., . John Oxian, president of the His- toric Preservation - Commission, suggested -one ',of the buildings Tribune Photo/JIM HIDEH South Bend parks maintenance superintendent Mike Qyszkiewicz surveys the condition of the basement of the Natatorium on West Washington Street. FROM PAGE All Fate: Landmarks' futUre uncertain As a former dispensary, the center at 1045 W Washington St has rooms that are small, whicli "create a lot of awkward space," Gibney said. The nonprofit agency by the same name is in the slow process. of closing down and eventually selling the center. It now houses the staff who run the federal Head Start preschool program in St. Joseph and Elkhart counties. Fed- eral officials hope to choose a new local agency to run Head Start by this summer, but it's uncertain whether that agency would contin- ue to Ilse the centor. Near west -side landmarks A group of interested citizens is trying to figure out what to do with some vacant landmarks on the city's near west side. The buildings are all within close proximity and present unique challenges to any possible reuse. Rehabilitating the Natatorium would cost about $350,000, while tearing it down would cost significantly less. If the structures are razed, many people would like to see residential development take up the space. l; Colfax Avenue I........... .......... { The HanseCenter l Washington A Street.: ,, Clark O'Neal ; -`Natatorium Funeral Home; l 5 Thomas street 4 ~St. Stephen i EL c + ."Church alt western... I .,• Avenue. Oliver I �7 r;Ulaskt ��.• tq Palk t'artc��.� •• • I Tribune Graphic/JOHN STUMP