TUPELO – A century-old house in the heart of downtown could face demolition, but members of the Historic Preservation Commission won’t let it go without a fight.

The Spain House, built in 1910 on the southeast corner of West Main and Church streets, has sat empty the past three years because its current owner hasn’t yet determined what to do with it.

Calvary Baptist Church purchased the three-story home from the Spain family in 2006 with plans to renovate and use it. But estimates to rehab the structure came in between $250,000 and $300,000, more than the church currently is willing to spend, said Tish Wright, a member of both the church and the commission.

Another plan by a private investor to renovate and lease the property also fell through, leaving the church wondering what to do next.

“We understand this is a sensitive issue,” said William Armistead, chair of the church’s Deacons Committee. “Demolition is not off the table, but they’re just looking at every option. At the end of the day, the recommendation will be what they feel is in the best interest of the church and following God’s will.”

Walter Spain, who sold his grandparents’ home to Calvary, said he had no comment on the church’s ultimate decision. He did, however, have fond memories of the house where he and his brother spent their summers.

“A lot of feelings go into that house,” he said. “It’s one of the treasures of Tupelo.”

Pastor David Eldridge said the church hasn’t yet voted. The committees studying the property must first make their recommendations to the deacons, which then will make their own decision before putting it to the full church for a vote. The whole process could take months.

But one of the church committees already mounted an effort to rid itself of the roughly 6,000-square-foot house.

Three months ago, members offered it to the city through a letter to Mayor Ed Neelly: The city could have the house for free if it’d just move it off the site. It’d cost between $30,000 and $40,000 to relocate.

Neelly declined.

“We don’t need it for the city’s use,” he told the Daily Journal this week. “It is a pretty old house, and I hope some individual will want to take it and renovate it.”

The correspondence apparently ended there. That irked members of the Historic Preservation Commission, who said they didn’t know about it until this week and would have liked an opportunity to have been involved.

Members discussed the house for an hour during their monthly meeting Thursday afternoon at City Hall, brainstorming ways to save it.

They said if they don’t act now, they could lose the house like so many other historic homes that have been torn down over the years – many of them in the past year alone.

In February, the Gloster Street Church of Christ demolished the former Mockingbird Inn Bed & Breakfast and a brick bungalow just west of that property. Both had stood on Jefferson Street since the mid-1920s.

A couple months later, developers tore down two houses on North Gloster Street to make room for the new CVS pharmacy at Crosstown.

With those demolitions, “there was very little warning and very little time for us as a commission to do anything,” said commission Vice Chair Karen Keeney, who urged the group to act now.

Ultimately, the commission unanimously voted to nominate the Spain House as a local historic landmark, along with the Lake Forest Farm buildings in Ballard Park and the East Tupelo Water Tower. The nomination immediately places a six-month hold on any demolition request while the commission holds public hearings and lobbies the City Council for the designation. If the designation passes, the house can never been torn down. It could, however, be relocated.

The commission also formed a sub-committee to study possible uses for the house and to reach out to the church for cooperation.

“We’re not trying to slap Calvary Baptist,” said commission Chairman Michael Jones. “We’re trying to preserve and protect historic buildings, and this is a historic building.”

Contact Emily Le Coz at (662) 678-1588 or emily.lecoz@djournal.com.