The future of St. Andrew's Church is now in the city's hands, and council members must decide whether they want to strip the current requirement to make it a community center. This change in designation may make it easier for the church to find a buyer who is willing to make the necessary investments to restore the church.

The city used to own St. Andrew's before it sold the massive, historic church building to developer Dave Nathans, who had plans to turn it into the Brooklyn Arts Center.

Those efforts fizzled out last year on claims that it was too difficult to raise the millions of dollars needed to fully restore the church.

Work has been done on the building's exterior, but millions of dollars in restoration work is needed inside the building.

A 100-year easement protects the old church from being demolished. The historic structure is located in the quickly gentrifying north side Brooklyn neighborhood.

The Wilmington city council will also vote on whether to fund repairs to the failing seawall that keeps the Cape Fear River from eroding streets and sidewalks in downtown Wilmington.

In April, the river wore away a sinkhole near Water St. and Market St.

So the city wants to get the ball rolling on repairs to that portion of the seawall, and it is asking city council for $175,000 to design the repairs and get bids for the construction.

If the Council approves the funds, about 160 feet of steel and backfill will reinforce the streets and sidewalks along the riverfront. The City is currently repairing the seawall near the Hilton Hotel in downtown Wilmington. © Copyright 2009, whqr