A 1991 application for landmark status for the building, filed to forestall a demolition threat then, was subsequently approved.

After a lawsuit and hearings, the District of Columbia issued a demolition permit in May 2009, and the building was demolished in 2014.

The Christian Science denomination was founded by Mary Baker Eddy in the 1860s, and the Church of Christ, Scientist was formally established in the 1870s.

[2] Third Church was originally located in a building on Lafayette Park near the White House,[3] shared with the National Woman's Party.

[14] This renewed threat to the building led to reconsideration of the 1991 application for historic landmark status.

[9][15] After the city turned down a demolition permit request from the Church in July 2008, the Church filed a lawsuit alleging violation of the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment along with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA).

[16][17] Opponents of the historic landmark designation argued that it violated the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act and subsequent laws by imposing a substantial burden on the church.

[11] As of October 7, 2013, with all legal issues resolved and with local approval in hand for a planned unit development, with commercial and religious uses, the owners applied for the final demolition permit.