The church was built for workers at the nearby Athens Manufacturing Company, owned by Robert Lee Bloomfield;[2] the factory closed in 1892.

Although it had a hole in the roof and an unsound floor, under which there were two graves,[5] Wall recognized the potential of the church as a rehearsal space and cleared it out.

Peter Buck, who worked for Wall at the Athens branch, expressed an interest in taking over the church that his boss was renting out.

Wall sub-let the apartment to Buck, his brother Ken, Kathleen O'Brien (a bartender at Athens' Tyrone's OC and a morning-show disc jockey on WUOG) and another girl named Robyn Bragg, although it is rumored that up to fifteen other people lived there as well, all contributing to the monthly rent of $350.

"[6] At the end of February, to celebrate her 20th birthday in just over a month's time, Kathleen O'Brien said she intended to throw a party at the church.

At five weeks' notice, after a performance by John Cale at the Georgia Theatre, she asked the quartet to help provide the entertainment.

Brian Kent, landscape architect at RFA, convinced the developer, pending a structural evaluation, to spare the steeple, considering its significant cultural value.

[3] In November 2010, a fire occurred at Rick Hawkins' print shop in front of the church at 376 Oconee Street.

[8] After the fire, county inspectors told the Steeplechase Condominium Association that they either needed to repair the steeple or have it torn down.

Bob Sleppy, executive director of Nuçi's Space, launched a fundraising campaign to facilitate its upkeep and build an adjacent meditation garden.

[3][4] Sleppy brought in Whitsel Construction, specialists in historic preservation, who removed a wall that had been part of the church but was not attached to the steeple.