The demolition of the former Immaculate Conception Church in Streator reached its final phase this week as crews began taking down the main church building.

Streator City Engineer Jeremy Palm said temporary traffic detours around the demolition site are expected to remain in place only while crews work on removing the church’s steeple.

Specifically, traffic on Park Street (Route 23 north) will be detoured left onto Elm Street, right onto Bloomington Street (Route 23 south), then right onto Morrell Street before returning to Park Street (Route 23 north).

Palm said the detour setup along Route 23 will be installed each morning around 6 a.m. and removed at the end of each workday, typically around 5 or 6 p.m. No official completion date has been set for the project at this time.

Palm said crews began dismantling the steeple Tuesday using two cranes, removing the structure in sections to reduce risk to nearby traffic and surrounding areas.

Once the steeple is reduced to a lower height, Palm said the cranes will be removed and demolition crews will continue tearing down the remainder of the church from ground level using more routine demolition methods.

The site is part of a larger redevelopment plan handled by Beck’s Oil, which includes a new gas station and convenience store.

The proposed redevelopment agreement would offer some tax revenues to assist Beck Oil Company in tearing down the existing church buildings, acquiring the property, extending utilities, and upgrading infrastructure like water and sewer lines and sidewalks. TIF eligible costs would total around $2.5 million of the $11 million total investment by Beck Oil Company.

Under the proposed plan, Beck’s would invest about $11 million into the site, with the city reimbursing up to $2.57 million through a “pay-as-you-go” tax-increment financing agreement, meaning the company would be repaid over time from a share of new property taxes the property will generate. The city would pay nothing up front.

Former City Manager David Plyman overviewed the proposal for the council in a meeting last year, noting that while 85% ($2.5 million) of the increment going back to Beck’s may sound like a lot, that also means the city gets 15% of all the growth.

Mayor Tara Bedei previously noted that the current block is generating $79,632 a year in property taxes to the city, but once the city reimburses Beck’s, the city is estimated to receive an additional $20,000 to $30,000 a year.

Beck’s officials were unavailable for comment on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.