Shiloh Baptist Church Properties Condemned
Four properties on 9th St. NW that are owned by Shiloh Baptist Church have been officially condemned by the city. Notices on the buildings indicate the city’s Board for the Condemnation of Insanitary Buildings considers the properties “in such insanitary condition as to endanger the health or the lives of the occupants thereof and/or persons in the vicinity.”
Shiloh's vacant properties have been a subject of heated debate within one of the most acrimonious ANCs in the District for many years. The church owns a huge proportion of the buildings in the immediate vicinity of 9th and P Streets NW, most of which are long-empty, rotting, boarded up and frequently temporary shelter for the homeless. The conditions of the Shiloh properties, and the church's presumed unwillingness to sell its valuable land to developers in an attempt to prevent further gentrification of the neighborhood, has been one of the most visible battle lines in the changing face of Washington over the last decade.
Before we go any further, you should know that I live directly around the corner from these buildings. I walk by them every day, and my house abuts a common yard with several of them, so if anyone's health or life is in danger from their current decrepit state, it's me. It also stands to reason there are probably few people who'd like to see these properties developed into something productive more than me. They attract rodents and other pests, are an eyesore in an otherwise attractive neighborhood, and stand in the way of potential further retail expansion in that part of 9th St.
All that being said, the popular demonization of the entire Shiloh Baptist Church community within the neighborhood is excessive. True, most of the church members no longer live in D.C., and instead drive in from Maryland to attend services and participate in church community meetings. But most of them don't like having disgusting, abandoned buildings next to their church, either. I've spoken to several longtime Shiloh members, including members of the church leadership, about this issue, and there is a serious divide within the church about the financial direction it's been heading in under the leadership of Rev. Wallace Charles Smith.
As the City Paper reported in March, more progressive board members have only recently come on board who favor developing the properties, and while Rev. Smith's stranglehold on control of the church coffers has up until now remained unchecked, I have good reason to believe that could soon change. It's important to remember that the church currently acts in the interest of only a very few individuals, not the hundreds of families who belong to Shiloh. To be sure, controversial former ANC commissioner Leroy Thorpe does not speak for Shiloh's congregation, no matter how much he'd like to think he does.
But the current state of this section of Shaw, thanks to Rev. Smith's unwillingness to act, is indeed shameful. I don't think anyone in the neighborhood is disappointed to hear that the condemnations will now force the church to improve the buildings by installing permanent roofs, fixing brickwork and masonry, installing gutters and down spouts, and cleaning the interiors. Hopefully this action will encourage the silent majority within Shiloh to force the leadership to take it one step further and return these properties to productive use.
Photos by Sommer Mathis