YOUNGSTOWN — A request by Youngstown CityScape to relocate the oldest church building in the city to West Wood and North Hazel streets has come to a halt because of various concerns.

At the top of the list of concerns by city officials: The planned church location, called “the Wedge,” is above a main steam line that provides heat to about two-thirds of downtown buildings and the unknown cost of possibly relocating the line.

The proposed move of the former Welsh Congregational Church at 220 Elm St. has been in the works for years with CityScape officials saying it needs to be relocated now to the Wedge or face demolition.

But at a Thursday council buildings and grounds committee meeting, Julius Oliver, D-1st Ward and chairman of the committee, and Basia Adamczak, D-7th Ward, took a firm stance against the relocation.

Hunter Morrison, the city’s planning consultant, also said he didn’t favor the move and questioned how this issue is at “the 11th hour” when CityScape has never presented plans for the move to the city’s Design Review Committee and the planning commission — both of which would need to sign off on the project.

Morrison and Nikki Posterli, head of the city’s Community Planning and Economic Development Department, said the city has other sites for the church. They declined to list them at Thursday’s meeting with Morrison acknowledging there are issues with them.

Oliver, who is a member of the CityScape board, questioned if the agency was trying “to guilt the city” into signing off on a plan that he said isn’t complete.

“That’s wrong and disingenuous,” he said, adding: “It’s a flat-out no.”

Sharon Letson, CityScape’s executive director, said: “No one’s trying to strong-arm anyone,” but the organization is running out of time to make the move.

That’s because the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, which owns the property, needs the site for parking. If the church isn’t moved shortly, the diocese will demolish it.

The diocese purchased the church in 2015 to take it down for additional parking, but agreed two years later to give it to CityScape if it could relocate it.

CityScape was going to originally move it to the Wedge, but the city said no. CityScape proposed the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre site, but the city recommended Wick Park. The city then determined Wick Park wouldn’t work, and the Wedge was chosen again.

The church was built in 1861 and is across the street from the diocese offices. A 1997 fire damaged the church, and it’s been closed ever since. It’s fallen into disrepair.

CityScape — a nonprofit community development organization focused on the revitalization of downtown — received $150,000 for renovations from Roberta Hannay, a Wick family descendant, to renovate it.

The entire project will cost about $1 million, Letson said.

However, it isn’t known how much it will cost to relocate the steam lines and Youngstown Thermal, which operates the steam lines, has been nonresponsive, Letson said.

The plan for the building is for the top floor to be community space and the bottom floor for office space, Letson said.

While Oliver and Adamczak were adamant that the church wouldn’t be moved to the Wedge, other council members were agreeable to exploring the possibility.

Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th Ward, said CityScape should be permitted to look at it further as it plans to pay for the steam line if that’s possible.

Councilwoman Samantha Turner, D-3rd Ward, said she favored moving the building and was “frustrated” with the lengthy conversation in opposition to doing so.

The discussion was left with Letson asking the city about other possible locations for the church.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com