Picture Vernon: Remember That Unique Church Building?

VERNON, CT — Remember that uniquely shaped church on Route 30 in Vernon? The latest installment of the Picture Vernon series revisits the day it tumbled to the ground.

It was the morning of March 15, 2019. The long-condemned Sacred Heart Church building that had been weakened by structural problems over several years was being surrounded by demolition equipment. By the end of the day, it would be gone.

A police drone is shown landing after making one final swoop past the structure to see it off.

At 8 a.m., a crane began poking at the west side of the 8-story concrete -and-steel structure and, shortly after, the first hole appeared in its walls. By 11 a.m., after smashing, tugging and assorted other forms of roughhousing, the entire west panel was down. By noon, the crane began systematically severing the top of the structure. At 12:30, the exterior cross tumbled to the ground.

Onlookers Ines the road to watch the festivities.

The 7-acre property was purchased by Strong Foundations, which uses the former Sacred Heart School building to service children who have been diagnosed with autism, Asperger Syndrome, PDD-NOS and social communication disorder.

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Picture Vernon is a periodic series featuring images of the town, past and present.