Minneapolis spokesman., 1962-10-19

InferrocioI Church
Sues Aldermen For
Permit To Build

/ SuuII ~ 00luS
Shiloh Temple, Inc, a Pentecos
tai Assembly church which was
forced from the building it owned
at 1900 Third st. s., in 1859 by
the University Of Minnesota ex-
pansion sought a Hennepin court
order to force the Minneapolis city
council to grant a construction
permit to build a new church on
land it owns at 59o1 Pleasant Av.
First public attention to the
plight Of the church came in a
story in this newspaper about ten
months ago when the Rev. Mrs.
Matte Smith complained that 18th
ward alderman Harmon T. Ogdahl,
had ordered the city building in
spector not to issue a permit for
the construction Of the building.
Alderman Ogdahl when ques-
toned by this newspaper stated
he had placed a hold" order on
the permit because the church did
not have enough ground to provide
off street parking. He denied at
the time that the interracial COM
position Of the church and the
fact that its pastor was a Negro
woman had anything to do with
his stand.
The change Of ward lines now
has placed the proposed site In
the 11th Ward which Is repre-
sented in the Council by Alder
man Earl johnson.
The civil action which the con-
gregation has filed in the Henne-
pin county district court names
both ogdahl and johnson and
Building Inspector Donald EricIr-
son.
At the last regular council
meeting Alderman Johnson joked
about the suit which he stated he
inherited from Alderman Ogdahl:"
While Alderman Ogdahl argues
that the church should have off
street parking facilities depending
upon the size Of the congregation,
there Is presently no city ordinance
which requires 1t. The proposed
new zoning ordinance which has
not yet been approved calls for
otf-street parking for all new
churches.
A few months after tho story
in this newspaper, Mrs. Smith
appealed to the Minneapolis
NAACP branch for help In tho
matter and it was referred to tho
legal redress committee of the
branch.
Douglas Hall, attorney for the
church stated that the refusal Of
the permit and the voting Of hold
order by the city council on rec
ommendation Of the Roads and
Bridges Committee on Jan. 27,
was due to the interracial char
acter," Of Shiloh Temple church.
The suit claims that under tho.
city's present EOning ordinance
a church may be built on the
Pleasant Av. site.
Shiloh Temples pastor Mrs.
Smith said the congregation was
about 100 members, most Of them
white"
The church was organized in
the 1930's In a small store on East
Franklin and Minnehaha. It later
was located at 171S e. Franklin.
In the 1940s the congregation ac-
quired a church building on the
corner Of 10th & Third st. s.
When Rev. Howard Smith
died he was succeeded by his
wife who has carried on until
tho present time with the MEM
bership meeting in various
homes.
Many white and Negro citizens
who have become interested In the
church's plight are Of the opinion
that II the church had been an all
white congregation there would
have been no trouble securing a
building permit. They believe AL
derman ogdahl who Is president
Of the Town Realty Co., and Is
presently running for the legisla-
ture ordered the hold order be-
cause Of protests from the i'm
mediate neighborhood because Of
the racial composition Of the
church