The back side of the Lord’s Christian Center is seen after the roof collapsed May 24 in Donna.
(Delcia Lopez | [email protected])
A Donna church that suffered a collapsed roof in May will soon be demolished.
The roof of The Lord’s Christian Center, located at the 100 block of South 8th Street, collapsed following a night of heavy rain and strong winds in the early morning hours of May 24.
“That’s what the city is saying, that it’s got to be demolished,” Pastor David Yanez said.
Yanez said that he has been in communication with the church’s insurance company and the inspector in order to determine the next step in moving forward with his church.
“I can see the point of the city,” Yanez said. “The city is taking care of the people and taking care of us because we don’t know what could happen in the near future. The building was really hurt.”
The pastor said he has yet to hear what exactly caused the back wall of the building to fall, leading to the collapse of the building’s roof.
“Something struck the back, and the back went into the building and the roof came down,” Yanez said.
Donna Interim City Manager Frank Perez said he determined that the damage to the building posed a risk and needs to be demolished.
“It’s really bad,” Perez said. “I’m not allowing any city people to go in there. I’m advising no one to go in there.”
Perez said the city offers a program that helps homeowners and non-profits that suffer devastating losses to their homes or buildings.
“We have a program where we’ll demolish it for them, and we’ll clean it up for them,” Perez said.
He said Yanez must go to the city and fill out an application before the city can proceed with the demolition and clean-up process.
“I’ve already communicated with (Yanez),” Perez said. “Anytime, he can call me today or call me tomorrow that it’s ready to be demolished. We’d prefer that it be demolished than it caving in and hurting somebody.”
“(Perez) had mentioned that to me, and I am really grateful for that,” Yanez said. “If they can really help us clean up the place, it’d be nice. We can start a new building or see what we’re going to do.”
Since the roof collapsed, the congregation has been forced to adapt in order to continue worship services. According to Yanez, his congregation, which he leads with his associate Pastor Yadira Martinez, has been meeting in a hall that they are renting.
“We’ve been at it for going on 33 years,” Yanez said. “All of our equipment is gone. Lots of things in there, some brand new TVs, are gone. We need a little help from the public because we’re starting at zero again like we did when we started 32 years ago. We’re hurting a little. We just have to keep on going.”
“There was nobody inside the building when this happened, and thank God for that.”
Anyone who would like to help The Lord’s Christian Center can make a donation to the church’s CashApp, $tlcc90. More information is available on the church’s Facebook page, or by calling (956) 461-0476.
