Crossroads Moving into Old St George (Mason, Perry: house, construction, drywall)

[t45209]

So, it was announced today that Crossroads Church has bought Old St George with plans to renovate it and use it once again as a house of worship. While I'm not a big fan of Crossroads for a variety of reasons that aren't really relevant to this thread, this is probably the best news possible for this battered architectural jewel of Uptown. With so many abandoned churches around town and the never ending struggle to adapt them to other uses, it seems like such a no brainer to use it as a church once again.

Still, I worry about how Crossroads is going to handle the restoration of this historic Hannaford-designed structure. Crossroads' modernist tendencies don't fit well with historically sensitive restoration, and there will clearly be some compromises. Most notably, they plan on rebuilding the steeples, which were for over 120 years standing proudly until lost to fire. However, the steeples will not be rebuilt as exact reproductions of the originals, but rather they propose something that mimics the originals. According to the article on wcpo.com, the new steeples will be made of a metal frame wrapped with a translucent mesh. As a purist when it comes to historic buildings, the thought of this makes me shudder. I almost consider it in poor taste to put this kind of garish modern construction on an old building like this. But, I suppose it is better than letting the building further deteriorate and maybe lost forever.

[kjbrill]

Good comments. Crossroads does seem to have their own agenda. They have recently remanufactured an old plant out here in Mason into a new church. It was a good size facility and I will believe will be a good sized church. Will be interesting to see just how large they grow.

[GManorborn]

Ugh!

[Wilson513]

Nonsense. They were willing for it to be office space for UC a few years ago. I'm sure CR won;t molest it any worse than that.

[Sarah Perry]

Anything that will save the building at all is better than letting it fall down brick by brick, a not unheard of occurrence with such white elephant structures. Nevertheless, when I saw the illustration up-thread I felt like vomiting. It's a safe bet the interior will be gutted and turned into the bland, acres-of-drywall auditorium type of setting with a large staging area that Crossroads' worship style demands. So I guess it's all relative. Not the worst outcome for the building, but probably not one that anyone who loves beautiful old churches would choose.

And yes, I get that I just blathered on about something that's mostly speculation. While I have no problem with Crossroads and actually commend them for reaching people who would otherwise not be reached by more traditional churches, I think it's too much to hope that they would have tuned in to the growing movement among young people to seek more traditional church settings. But it would be great if they did. I'll be watching with interest.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

Anything that will save the building at all is better than letting it fall down brick by brick, a not unheard of occurrence with such white elephant structures. Nevertheless, when I saw the illustration up-thread I felt like vomiting. It's a safe bet the interior will be gutted and turned into the bland, acres-of-drywall auditorium type of setting with a large staging area that Crossroads' worship style demands. So I guess it's all relative. Not the worst outcome for the building, but probably not one that anyone who loves beautiful old churches would choose.

And yes, I get that I just blathered on about something that's mostly speculation. While I have no problem with Crossroads and actually commend them for reaching people who would otherwise not be reached by more traditional churches, I think it's too much to hope that they would have tuned in to the growing movement among young people to seek more traditional church settings. But it would be great if they did. I'll be watching with interest.

I'm confused. I didn't see anything in the photo link above that was objectionable, or even different. The spires were hit by lightning a few years ago and burned, right? Is that what we are talking about?

[GManorborn]

It may be just the renderings, but the steeples seemed out of proportion, with little if any detail to match the original building. It's one think if that's due to cost; if not, then I stand by my "Ugh!" Also they appear to be lighted; if so, that's another ugh!

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by GManorborn

It may be just the renderings, but the steeples seemed out of proportion, with little if any detail to match the original building. It's one think if that's due to cost; if not, then I stand by my "Ugh!" Also they appear to be lighted; if so, that's another ugh!

Uh, I think they are identical. Those new ones are drawings, not photos.

[kjbrill]

You are able to comment all you want. But CR has been growing immensely. I am willing to see where they end up. If another Jim and Tammy Bakker operation that is one thing, UGH. But if a growing episcopal church, great. We meed to acknowledge those who are trying to uplift the ambiance in the whole area.

[progmac]

Churches are gorgeous old relics that are nearly impossible to find a use for. I welcome any effort to keep the building upright and in use. I agree that it may be in better taste just to leave the steeples off, but that is not my decision.