The former Methodist Church in Wallowa as it appeared in August 2023, still shows the serious damage it sustained during the Aug. 11, 2022, hailstorm. The Wallowa City Council on July 15, 2025, denied another extension to the tribe to find a buyer. The tribe has a contractor lined up to demolish the century-old building. (Wallowa County Chieftain, File)

WALLOWA — The Wallowa City Council at its meeting Tuesday, July 15, denied a  30-day extension on a permit to demolish the old United Methodist Church.

Mayor Gary Hulse said the Nez Perce Tribe, which owns the building, has an agreement with a contractor to demolish it.  He said the council would have granted the extension if someone had expressed interest in purchasing the building, but no one had.

”We’d heard one time someone offered them $50,000, but that wasn’t enough,” he said.

Earlier this year, the council approved a demolition permit to the Lapwai, Idaho-based tribe to conduct the demolition, but that expired July 17, thus the need for the extension if someone was interested in purchasing it.

A hailstorm in the summer of 2022 rocked the area and seriously damaged the church, which the Methodists gave to the tribe in 2021. The tribe decided against trying to restore the century-old building and plans to demolish it and use the land in downtown Wallowa for other purposes.

Hulse said the tribe has said it would like an interpretive center on the site.

In another matter, the council heard an update from Mary Hawkins, who chairs the board of the Joseph Branch Rails with Trails Consortium. She said the Wallowa County Planning Commission has denied a conditional-use permit to have an interpretive trail alongside the tracks between Wallowa and Minam.

She said the consortium plans to appeal the Wallowa County Planning Commission’s decision to the county board of commissioners but needs more information to present to the board in hopes it will overrule the planning commission’s decision.

The council also extended an addendum for the local food bank, which is in the old city hall, to 2027. The agreement stipulates if the food bank would have to close, the city would retake possession of its contents.