Two Lafayette homes on the national register of historic places list appear to be coming down.
The city’s Historic Preservation Commission voted four-to-three to deny a special exemption that would have allowed more time to try and save the homes.
Community Development Planner Brian Bugajski says at this point all options are exhausted.
“It's a little bit of disappointment, but at the same time, Central Presbyterian (Church) has worked for a long time to try to find a solution for these houses," he said. "At the end of the day I would love to see them stay up, but it comes down to dollars and cents, and there is not a lot out there for preservation.”
The homes are located at North 8th and South Streets.
Lafayette’s Central Presbyterian Church is planning to tear down two homes to make room for more green space and beautification projects.
The church owns the properties which are on the national historic preservation list, but because they receive no federal funding they can come down.
Church representative Dave Lahr doesn’t see any reason to extend the process.
"We've had them for quite a few years, we've tried to do many things with them, we've tried to be rental people, we're just not in that business," he said. "We just need to do some beautification there and once the houses are gone it will be easier for us to do this."
Those trying to preserve the homes until November 10th to come up with more options.
If not, Lars say the houses are likely to be torn down by the early part of next year.