A historic building on McCallie Avenue is currently slated for demolition later this year, but many Chattanoogans don't want to see it fall.

The Medical Arts building is nearly 100 years old, and the neighboring First Presbyterian Church has owned it since the 1970s.

According to our partners at the Times Free Press , the church says the math to keep the tower standing just doesn't work. Instead, they plan to tear it down and build a new two-story addition to its campus.

"We're not taking any joy in this," Mike Kramer, co-chair of the church's capital committee, told TFP by phone. "Our goal in doing this was not to raze the tower. That was never the goal. What we're trying to do is a project that eliminates any deferred maintenance issues for the next 20 years."

Nearly 2,000 peop

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