A church that looks like an ominous and forgotten half-built cathedral sits abandoned directly across Carraway Boulevard from Top Golf, near Protective Stadium and the Uptown entertainment district in Birmingham.

The City of Birmingham traded the land to Trinity CME Church a decade ago and contributed $500,000 to construction costs, hoping it would become a key piece of downtown vitality after the church was forced to move out of Collegeville to make way for a new railroad-crossing bridge.

Trinity CME’s former campus at 3013 F.L. Shuttlesworth Drive in Collegeville became the site of the Maxine Herring Parker Bridge, a vehicle and pedestrian bridge to give residents a way to cross railroad tracks that often obstructed traffic.

Instead of becoming a vital worship center and daycare as planned, the abandoned construction project on a piece of land at 1129 Carraway Boulevard has become an eyesore. The city has demanded the land and the money back.

The piece of disputed property has taken on greater visibility since the 2021 opening of Protective Stadium nearby, and currently an amphitheater is under construction a few blocks away.

The City of Birmingham filed a lawsuit against the church and its governing body, the Fifth Episcopal District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Jim Hughey III has set a May 16 court date for the parties to have a conference to settle the dispute that has been percolating for years.

Bishop Teresa Snorton, who oversaw the CME Fifth Episcopal District covering Alabama and Florida from 2011 until 2022, declined comment on the case.

Trinity CME Pastor Kenneth W. Smith and trustee chairman Danny Franklin also declined comment.

Rick Journey, spokesman for the City of Birmingham, said the city has no comment on the pending litigation.

In court filings, the city says that on July 29, 2014, it entered into a redevelopment agreement with the defendants in which the church’s incorporated development group would construct a church building, offices and a daycare facility on the property, which also occupies 2615 12th Ave. North.

The developer agreed to begin construction by July 29, 2015 and complete the project by January 2017, or 18 months after construction began.

The redevelopment agreement gave the city an option to terminate the agreement if the deadline was not met.

Construction began on Jan. 6, 2015, the lawsuit says, and the city entered into a funding agreement under which the city provided $500,000 in assistance for the project.

The developer agreed to complete the project by Dec. 1, 2015. The developer “represented that the project would generate revenue in excess of $1 million over a three-year period,” the city’s complaint said.

After the deadline of Dec. 1, 2015 passed with the project still not complete, the city granted extensions of time, the lawsuit says.

In November 2016, the developer subdivided the project, retaining the street address of 2615 12th Ave. North for one portion, while the address of the incomplete structure was changed to 1129 Carraway Boulevard.

On June 19, 2020, the city sent a letter to the developer notifying it of default and requesting a schedule for repayment. On July 26, 2020, the church responded requesting an extension of time to prepare a proposal for the project.

Since 2020, alternative proposals have been submitted, including projects “different in nature” from the original proposal, the city said in its lawsuit. The city considered but rejected those alternative proposals but chose to pursue reclaiming the property.

On Nov. 21, 2021, the city sent the church a notice of termination of the redevelopment agreement and the project funding agreement. The city requested that the defendants immediately return the property back to the city.

“As of Nov. 29, 2021, and to date, the project was and is incomplete,” the city said in its lawsuit. “Developer partially completed a structure on the subject property and Fifth District built an office building on a portion of the property.”

The city said the subject property and the financial assistance have not been returned, as required in the contract, and alleges breach of contract.

Founded in Collegeville in 1904 as the “Trinity Colored Methodist Episcopal Church,” Trinity changed its name in 1954 to Trinity Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The church currently meets at 1101 Gene Reed Road in Roebuck.