SAN ANTONIO -- Demolition of the damaged portion of the Youth Building at the Travis Park Church began Saturday morning.
- Recently underwent renovation
- Known for helping homeless, migrants
- Normal business on hold for several weeks
Shortly after midnight Friday morning, heavy rains penetrated a weakened, aged roof, which recently underwent renovation, and collapsed a section of the south roof and wall.
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Located on Travis Street and Navarro Street, the church in recent history has built a reputation for helping the downtown homeless population and migrants entering the country seeking asylum.
On Friday, the church's migrant coordinator said no one was sleeping inside the church at the time of the collapse.
"It’s a blessing we did not have our migrant friends here last night," said Cydni Bravenec.
Since March, the church offered food, shelter and water to some 22,000 migrants.
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On Friday, city officials and structural engineers were busy assessing the incident and damage.
“We’ve had some catastrophic damage done,” Bravenec said.
A SAWS water line was ruptured as the roof caved in. Rain and the busted pipe sent large volumes of water pouring down from the third floor into the floors below.
Crews were busy cleaning debris scattered through the structure and dozens of fans were set up on all three floors of the church. The collapsed wall sent debris flying to the neighboring hotel rooftop located south of the dividing alley from the church.
Bricks and sections of the damaged fire escape peppered the alley way following the accident.
“We have great professionals out here trying to help us pull it all together and determine our plan of action,” said Bravenec.
Church officials say normal church business is on hold at least two or three weeks.
On Sunday, at Travis Park Plaza across the street from the church, the congregation will have a prayer service at 9:45 a.m. The daily Cafe Corazon breakfast will be provided outside the church for safety precautions.
Anyone willing to assist is asked to visit https://travispark.org/.