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Representatives from Bethel Lutheran Church revealed plans to officially open the option to either move the historic Steensland House outside the Mansion Hill historic district or demolish the landmark at a neighborhood association meeting Wednesday evening.

When members from the committee met with the neighborhood association March 2, they were asked to commit to an agreement neighborhood representatives alleged the church had previously established to keep the house in its current location or at least within the historic district, Bethel Lutheran Church Urban Site Commission member Peder Moren said.

“In the minutes of the March 2 meeting of this group, reference was made to an oral understanding that Bethel was committed to keeping the Steensland House at its current site,” Moren said. “We have exhausted as search of the records at Bethel and can find no reference of this – we have exhausted 15 years of records.”

Following the church’s search, Moren said Bethel Lutheran was asking the Mansion Hill Neighborhood Association to amend the minutes from the March 2 meeting to reflect the lack of evidence of any agreement.

Moren said the church currently has one prospect within the Mansion Hill historic district and one “suspect” outside the district, but said committee members were still hopeful someone within the district would open their lot for the house’s relocation.

Still, Moren said the committee had to consider all of its options and the potential that the house would not have any offers come through, forcing the committee to begin the process for potential demolition.

“We will be filing the initial paperwork with the City of Madison – a requirement of their process – as we work on this to let them have a 60-day notice that we are looking to relocate the house and provide them with the potential for demolition if we cannot relocate the house,” Moren said.

Mansion Hill Neighborhood Association committee member Fred Mohs said he was actually at the meeting several years ago when the alleged agreement for the house to stay in place was made. He said the agreement originated during a meeting that contemplated the development of the parking lot for the church.

“In a meeting with the church committee, the agreement we reached was that we would go along with the demolition of the [other houses on the lot] and build the parking lot … but the Steensland House would be maintained,” Mohs said. “We were dealing with a church and had quite a bit of confidence with them that they would uphold their agreement – we trusted them.”

Mohs accounted for the lack of church records by pointing out the committee did not require a written agreement or a deed restriction because the committee assumed an oral agreement based on trust.

Moren said it would be “very unusual” in Bethel’s history to reach an accord without it being reflected within the church’s record.

Other members of the committee argued against the church based only on principle, saying a figure is designated a landmark with a purpose.

“There are other landmarks in Mansion Hill – I own two of them – two that I cannot do anything with,” Mansion Hill Neighborhood Association chairman Gene Devitt said. “They are landmarked, they don’t go anyplace. That’s what landmarks do – they save the houses.”