Shiloh Church to Repair Condemned Properties

Shiloh Baptist Church leaders said yesterday that they plan to immediately repair four long-vacant buildings that were condemned this week by District officials.

The church has two weeks to fix the properties, along Ninth Street NW, before the District makes the repairs and charges the congregation for the work.

"We're going to try to bring our buildings into compliance," said Thomas Bowen, a Shiloh minister of fellowship and outreach.

The dilapidated properties have long been a source of frustration for community leaders and residents who contend that they are a blight. Church officials have said that they hope to develop the buildings as affordable housing.

The properties are in the heart of the rapidly gentrifying Shaw neighborhood, at 1528, 1532, 1534 and 1536 Ninth St., on the same street where Shiloh has maintained its congregation since 1924. During the past year, Shiloh officials have also angered residents by contesting liquor licenses sought by restaurants along Ninth Street.

After a community meeting this year, at which residents complained about the condition of the Shiloh properties, D.C. inspectors ordered the church to make repairs.

In March, Shiloh officials asked the District for 30 days to make repairs that they then failed to complete, said Linda Argo, interim director of the city Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. This month, the District's Board of Condemnation voted to issue the condemnation order, which was delivered to the properties Wednesday.

Argo said the buildings need new roofs, gutters and brickwork. "They do not meet building codes," she said.