INDIANAPOLIS - Church officials knew for months that there was a problem with their roof and actually had a contractor lined up to look at it before it collapsed Tuesday.
No one was inside when the roof caved in at the Greater New Jerusalem Temple at 2601 East New York Street.
"Like, 'crack, crack, crack' and then the next thing we knew, we could see it falling," said one witness. "You could just hear all kinds of noise. You could hear it falling and so when we came out and we had walked around to the front and then, all of a sudden, you just started hearing cracks."
"It took not even ten seconds for it to look like that right there," said another. "We were out there cutting grass and we stepped out front and all of a sudden we started hearing some cracking and popping and we looked over and that whole roof and the sides just buckled and caved out."
The church's bishop told firefighters that they first reported to their insurance company in October that the roof was in need of repairs.
Last week, parishioners said the roof started to crumble inside the building.
The church actually had a contractor on site taking measurements Tuesday when he heard a creaking noise and warned everyone to get away from the building. He says the collapse was because the current roof was installed improperly.
"They built a roof over the other roof so...the weight in the building was pushing the walls out," said Louis Vaz, Vaz Construction.
"It wasn't this bad when it started. It was just a small square section that we knew of, but we now see how severe it was," said Bishop Herman Davis, Greater New Jerusalem Temple.
13 Investigates has uncovered an inspection report that shows the congregation was told last December by an Indianapolis engineering firm hired by their insurance company this was coming. As the report claimed, due to the structural condition of the roof, the potential for a catastrophic collapse was imminent and without warning.
"We knew we needed to move out and worship some place else and we wanted to do that before anything happened," said parishioner Marilyn Brown.
Now, the blame game has started. The church congregation says their insurance company is trying to escape paying for damages.
"We've been going through this since October 18 of last year with the insurance company and they kept putting us off and putting us off and now, here we are," said Davis.
The engineering firm hired by the insurance company warned the congregation that building did not meet building codes and had too many layers of shingles, regardless of what the problem is or who is to blame when it collapsed.
The Indianapolis Department of Code Enforcement is working with Bishop Davis to decide when to demolish the building, but said Tuesday it won't have to be demolished immediately. Damage was estimated at $500,000.
The church was formerly located at 2201 Delaware Street and has been at its current location for eight years.
Three services a week are held at the church. The last service was held on Saturday, July 9th.
