St. Mark’s Church on Hamilton Street finally met the wrecking ball on Wednesday, eight years after the parish merged with nearby St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church.

Situated between Hamilton Street and Seminary Avenue, the church had been largely vacant in recent years after a merger in 2010 with St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church on Central Avenue created the Divine Mercy Parish.

An eagle-eyed reader noticed that the stained-glass windows of the church had been removed in the spring. Demolition permits for the church and rectory were filed with the city in May, according to Cynthia Solomon, director of the Division of Planning.

The nearly 1-acre property (Block 162, Lot 9) is assessed for $666,700 overall ($146,600 for the land, $520,100 for the building), according to property records. Since it’s owned by the Archdiocese of Newark, however, it is exempt from property taxes.

Based on an overall property tax rate of $6.528 per $100 of assessed value for 2017, an assessment that size would normally generate property taxes of about $43,522 — if the property was not tax-exempt.

Churches and schools have been closing steadily over the years, with some being sold and eventually developed or converted into housing. A task force in 2004 recommended a number of church and school closings in the Archdiocese system.

There have been no shortage of rumors about the 132-year-old church since the merger in 2010 but what plans the Archdiocese of Newark actually has for the site are unclear. A phone and email message to the communications office yesterday has not yet been returned but I’ll update if I hear anything back.

In response to an email about what kind of interest the city or Redevelopment Agency might have in the site, Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Leonard Bier said “the church has not contacted the city to discuss its future intentions.”

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At the risk of speculation, the site is a prime location, situated within walking distance of downtown and the Union County Performing Arts Center, across the street from Hamilton Stage for the Arts on the Hamilton Street side, with its parking lot across from the old Arts Guild building on the Seminary Avenue side. And just behind it, fronting Irving and Seminary, is another property that had once been planned for a jazz club and apartments. It’s unclear, however, what impact the Robinson’s Branch of the Rahway, which runs just past the rectory building, would have on potential uses for the property.