The Region : Decision on ‘Jesus Saves’ Church Put Off

Amid reports that the downtown “Jesus Saves” church is seismically unsafe, the Los Angeles City Council asked that an independent engineering study be done on the building. The decision provided an anticlimax for a standing-room-only crowd of about 450 people in council chambers, the majority of whom had turned out to see if the Hope Street church would be designated a historic monument. Councilman Gilbert Lindsay, who has aligned himself with the “save-the-church” movement led by television preacher Gene Scott, asked for further study after a report generated by a would-be buyer of the property judged it to be severely deteriorated and at risk of collapse in an earthquake. The Glendora-based Church of the Open Door, owner of the building for 50 years, has struggled with Scott’s ministry for the right to sell the building to developers. A designation as a historic monument would hinder the sale of the building, church officials said.