A delayed demolition is finally underway. St. Patrick’s church was slated to fall last week, but bad weather kept the cranes parked and they had to put off the job. It’s been waiting for eight months already — the church, built in the 1880s, was heavily damaged in an April tornado.

The congregation decided it just wasn’t worth it to try and pay for repairs at the downtown site in Iowa City that’s now a valuable piece of real estate. So the delayed wrecking ball finally arrived yesterday (Wednesday) and the whole job should be done by the middle of next week.

By February parishioners hope to have a new location picked out and paid for so they can start building a new worship home, somewhere on the east side of Iowa City.