For the Love of a Building
(photo from gjfreepress.com)
As a kid I can
remember walking in through the front steps every Sunday. To the left of
the doors was a beautiful old wooden pew. Above the pew just a sample
of the stunning stained glass that was featured throughout the iconic
building. Most Sundays our family would sit in the balcony. We sat on
what can only be described as the most uncomfortable wood theater seats
imaginable. I loved those seats. If you picked the right one you could
move your legs up and down through service and listen to it squeak. From
the balcony you could look to the left as the light streamed through
the many panes of stained glass. Below you could watch the other church
kids coloring on bulletins or maybe even in the hymnals or bibles in the
pew backs. To the right was the most wonderful pipe organ. Again, not
something you appreciate until you get older. The notes that came out of
those big pipes were simply beautiful. As a musical sort of kid it was
always a special treat when the Harpsichord was played! Many Sundays I
sat in those squeaky wood seats, listened to the Organist and tried my
best to stay awake through the sermons.
Now after the
service was when the real fun began. My dad was very involved in the
church. From the bell choir to being a deacon we were the church family.
As he was doing his deaconly duties my sisters and I along with the
other "church kids" went exploring. Do you see the dome on the top of
the building. If you knew where you were going you could go through the
back rooms, up a rickety roped off set of stairs all the way to the top
of the dome. It was AMAZING! There were many, many rooms in that
building that I went in that I'm fairly confident we definitely weren't
supposed to be in!
Eventually the
Presbyterian Church built a shiny new building with no secret rooms or
hidden stairways, no creaky wooden theater seats. The grand dame became a
wedding and event hall and finally ended up sitting vacant. No pitter
patter of little patent leather shoes running through the halls, no pipe
organ filling the sanctuary with divine songs.
In August 2011 my
then fiance, now husband and I were having engagement pictures taken and
much to my surprise the photographer suggested White Hall! My old
stomping grounds!
Thank God we did it, just a month later on September 15, 2011 she went up in flames. Devastating flames.
(photo courtesy of The Daily Sentinel)
Heartbreaking. Absolutely heartbreaking.
Again, she sat
empty, half burned, chain link fence surrounding the lot. About 2 years
after the fire they demolished the sanctuary part of the building. And
there she continued to sit until this past week when the demolished the
rest of the building.
I received an email
this morning from a photographer that took a final picture of her just
before the finished demolition. I found beauty in the broken stained
glass, the different levels of doors and windows smiling at the memories
of running through the halls. Even the graffiti brings beauty to the
picture. The old radiator that is in the middle of the picture is so
cool! It made me smile and it actually made me cry.
As a real estate
agent with a heart for infill development projects I look forward to the
next phase of life for the 600 block of White Avenue.
As for the grand dame... she will be missed. My memories of her are held dear.
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