The spire from Ascension Lutheran Church left Mockingbird Lane in three pieces in 2024. Paradise Valley now owns it, and Council has picked its permanent spot on the Town Hall campus. A 30% design is on file. The project still has no installation date. Before it stands again, a volunteer nonprofit has to raise $750,000 in private money for a spire whose metal section has been redesigned shorter than the one that came down.
Owned by the Town Since August 2024
The church went up in the early 1960s at 7100 N. Mockingbird Lane. Its spire was designed by William Wesley Peters, Frank Lloyd Wright's son-in-law and apprentice, working with Taliesin Associated Architects, according to ABC15. Sources give slightly different dates. ABC15 says the church was built in 1961, and the Town's own resolution says it was designed in 1963.
The Daily Independent reports that for decades the spire was the tallest structure in Paradise Valley other than the mountains, and that the church was razed in 2024 to make room for luxury homes. Scott Jarson, who grew up less than a mile from the church, told ABC15 that he sees it as "the gateway to the heart of Paradise Valley."
In June 2024, the Arizona Digital Free Press reported that the church site had already been sold by the time Town Manager Andrew Ching started in July 2023. The church was slated for demolition, and ABC15 reported that the land would become luxury housing. That 2024 report described a planned five-home community. A July 2026 preview in the Phoenix Business Journal says the church came down to make way for four new luxury estates.
The spire was taken down before the building was. Fox 10 reported that it came off in three sections and described it as 77 feet tall and 12,000 pounds. The volunteers trying to save it could not raise enough to pay for the removal. Fox 10 reported that the property owner paid to take the spire down and deliver it to the Town.
A later Town resolution records the handoff. The owner delivered the spire to Town Hall property for safekeeping on Aug. 22, 2024, and the Town accepted ownership. So the spire is public property. Each decision since then has been about where it goes, how tall it stands and who pays.
Council Chose the Site, Then Asked for Less Height
On May 14, 2026, the Town Council adopted Resolution 2026-05, naming the Town Hall campus at 6401 E. Lincoln Drive as the spire's permanent home. The approval required a follow-up review once the design reached 30%. The Paradise Valley Independent reported the vote as 6-1.
The design team's September presentation gave four reasons for choosing the Town Hall site:
- Viability: a fully vetted location where the spire can go up with the least disruption
- Visibility: a prominent spot where residents and visitors can see it
- Context: the spire becomes part of the civic grounds instead of standing alone
- Reflection Garden/Basin: a setting suited to a piece with historical and civic significance
The Spire Design Team brought its 30% update to Council on Sept. 10, 2026. The Town's staff report defines that team as the Historical Advisory Committee working with the Save the Spire citizen group. In the Town's legislative record, the item's status is "Filed," with final action taken the same day. The presentation was received. Council did not vote on the design.
According to the Paradise Valley Independent, Vice Mayor Christine Labelle, who also sits on the Save the Spire group, said the lower design responds to some council members' concerns about height. The deck lists the changes since the April design as "lowered overall height," "lowered plinth/base" and a "refined relationship between spire and site."
Several Heights for One Spire
The spire's height has been reported several different ways, and the figures are less contradictory than they look. Each one measures something different:
| Figure | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 92 feet | The spire as it stood atop Ascension Lutheran | Paradise Valley Independent, August 2026 |
| 77 feet | The spire at removal in 2024 | Fox 10 |
| 74 feet | The metal spire itself in the September 2026 design | Spire Design Team presentation |
| 78 feet | From the middle of the base to the tip | Same presentation |
| 85 feet | From the lowest grade point to the tip | Same presentation |
The concrete base also came down in the redesign. The presentation describes it as 3 feet at its lowest point and 11 feet overall. The 74-foot figure for the metal itself is the most direct comparison to the 77 feet Fox 10 reported at removal. By that measure, the metal planned for Lincoln Drive is 3 feet shorter than what came off the church. The 78- and 85-foot figures add the base and the slope of the site, so they run taller than the metal alone.
The site work is still in progress. The presentation lists drainage and site flow, structural and installation requirements, and the landscape around the spire as items still being coordinated with Town staff. The design team met about every two weeks through the summer. The listed team includes PHX Architecture, 180 Degrees Design Build, Cullum Homes, LDG Engineering, Chris Winters & Associates, Cartwright Engineers and Creative Designs in Lighting.
The Town Provides the Site. Donors Pay for the Rest.
Resolution 2026-05 says design and construction costs are meant to be paid privately. Town staff will cooperate, and the Town's spending is limited to minor costs within the Town Manager's authority. The Town owns the spire, but the money to put it up has to come from somewhere else.
That falls to Save the Spire, Inc., a 501(c)(3) seeking $750,000 to move the spire out of temporary storage and install it on the Town Hall campus. The September presentation reported:
- More than $100,000 in in-kind donations
- Key potential donors identified, with first outreach underway
- Grant and public funding options researched
- A dedicated bank account and an active website with a QR code
- A donor prospectus in development
The deck does not say how much cash has been raised. The in-kind total covers donated work, which helps explain how the design reached 30% with so many firms named. It does not pay for steel, concrete or a crane.
Save the Spire's website accepts online gifts of $100, $250, $500 or $1,000, or any other amount, and says donations fund both construction and upkeep. The top donor tiers carry recognition: Visionary donors at $100,000 receive individual bronze medallions, Cornerstone donors at $60,000 receive individual bronze plaques, and Benefactor donors at $30,000 are recognized on a shared plaque. The presentation also mentions plaques and bricks among the recognition ideas still being developed, and lists visibility through the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy.
Other Town volunteer groups have also contributed. Minutes from the Paradise Valley Arts Board show that its April 12 studio tours asked guests for a suggested $25 donation, and the Board voted to send that money to Save the Spire. The tours visited the studios of Routraut, William Daggett and Deborah Garland. On Sept. 16, the Historical Advisory Committee voted to support the project. That was an advisory vote, not Council action. Catherine Kauffman chairs that committee and also belongs to Save the Spire.
What Comes After November 13
Fundraising starts in earnest next month. Citizen Portal described a "November 13 kickoff event" tied to the $750,000 goal. The venue, time and ticket details have not been published, so the group's website is the place to check. Jordan Rose, Catherine Kauffman, Christine LaBelle and Colleen Steinberg lead fundraising and PR.
The design team's "Next Steps" slide gives this order:
- Finish the 30% design and Council check-in, completed Sept. 10
- Move into final design development and technical coordination
- Raise money through private gifts, grants and community participation
- Hold the Nov. 13 fundraiser
- Produce construction-ready documents, then build
The slide does not give a date for step five. Until the money is raised and those documents are done, the spire stays in storage on Town property.
If you want to see the site before anything changes, the Town's Veterans' Appreciation Vintage Car Show takes over the Town Hall parking lot at 6401 E. Lincoln Drive on Nov. 14, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. That is the morning after the kickoff.
Cambridge Properties has worked in Paradise Valley long enough to remember the spire as a fixed point on the skyline, and we plan to keep following the project as it moves toward construction-ready plans. If you have questions about how civic projects like this one affect the streets around Lincoln Drive and Mockingbird Lane, our senior team is glad to talk them through. Request more info anytime.
