Image courtesy of Paul B. Bailey Architect

A downtown New London church whose steeple collapsed spectacularly in early 2024 has been demolished, and its replacement is getting ready for construction.

Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities Inc. received approval from the city in late 2025 for a 46-unit apartment building with ground-floor office space.

The workforce housing developer, however, recently applied to city officials for permission to blast and crush ledge on site to make enough room for the building’s foundation to be poured.

The approved building would rise to five stories above State Street, downtown New London’s historic core, with a tenant roof deck taking up space between the main facade and the stepped-back fifth story. Other amenities noted in the approved plans include a package room, and on the third floor, a community room with an outdoor terrace and a small gym.

The ground floors of the sloping site would be 2,419 square feet of commercial space split between two storefronts and 19 parking spaces, five of them accessible according to approved plans.

The latest application to allow ledge blasting and rock crushing is pending; it wasn’t immediately clear when it would be taken up by the Planning & Zoning Commission.