INDIANAPOLIS — A historic downtown wedding venue is being demolished after a devastating fire on Christmas Eve.
According to the Indianapolis Fire Department, crews were dispatched to the structure at 701 N. Pennsylvania St. around 5:40 a.m. after multiple 911 calls.
Several streets surrounding Pennsylvania and Walnut Streets were closed as crews worked on the blaze.
The roof of the building was totally collapsed, IFD said. The structure was unoccupied and there were no injuries. The department said getting water pressure into the building was their biggest issue.
The building was built in 1875 and was used as a church before becoming the Sanctuary at Penn which is now used as a wedding venue.
Christan Gestaldo had his wedding inside the historic church in 2023.
"The memories, I can't sit down for a long enough interview to walk you through them all," Gestaldo said. "We had all of our friends and family standing around us while my wife and I danced. It was a very special moment for us, and a lot of our friends and family as well. I'm always going to hold those memories dear and I'm thankful I got to experience the venue while it was here."
Mariah Handlon was the venue's photographer. She cried watching the building that fueled her career fall to the ground.
“It's pretty devastating," Handlon said. "Just thinking about every experience here. Going into the future, it's going to be different and not having (the building) is going to be very hard."
The building was demolished shortly after noon on Tuesday due to the unstable structure of the building. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
