Post by admin on Sept 7, 2006 15:57:33 GMT -5
Church will celebrate restoration
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
SCOTT PILLING staff The end of a renovation project at the First Presbyterian Church, Freehold, that has taken more than three years to complete will be celebrated on Sept. 10.
FREEHOLD - Officials at the First Presbyterian Church, West Main Street, are happy that a 31/2-year-long restoration project is now ready to be showcased.
According to Beverly Dame, who co-chaired the project with William Reid, a dedication ceremony will be held at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 10 at the church to celebrate the completion of the $1.3 million project.
According to Dame, a worship service will be held first to "thank the Lord for all His blessings." She said the whole project has been a journey of faith. "We believed as God's children that the Lord would guide us and lead us through the journey to completion."
Dame said although the long restoration and renovation project has been "overwhelming," the church community believes that without the Lord's help and guidance it would never have come to fruition.
After the worship service, light refreshments and a tour will be provided for guests in order to showcase all of the work that has taken place at the landmark house of worship.
According to Dame, parts of the church which were originally completed in 1873 had fallen into disrepair.
"We approached our Session (the church's governing body), with the idea of renovation. They gave us permission to go ahead with the project and we formed a building task force," Dame explained.
After securing pledges from the congregation members, the task force secured a construction loan from First Washington Bank, Freehold Township. Once the pledges were promised from church members and the loan was secured, the project was under way.
The architectural firm Holt, Morgan and Russell, of Princeton, was engaged to develop a plan for the renovations.
Dame said congregation members wanted to make the church more accessible to people who have disabilities and wanted more classrooms to "better spread the word of the Lord" in order to educate congregants age 3 to adult.
"We also had the only church in Freehold that was not air conditioned, so that was an important issue as well. We worked with the firm and came up with a couple of plans to show the congregation," Dame said.
The task force then hired general contractor Charles B. Hemeling and Son, of Shrewsbury, and the project was in full swing.
Dame said the scope of engineering services that went into air conditioning the landmark church was nothing short of a miracle.
Improvements include air conditioning and a full elevator system in the back of the church. The area was gutted, according to Dame, and the old woodwork and plaster work has been restored.
"It all looks magnificent," she said, adding that "certain things had to be brought up to code, but we kept the integrity of the church as it was when it was built after the Civil War."
The back of the church now has three full classrooms, a small kitchen and a bathroom. The "magnificent" staircase, according to Dame, has been restored and refinished. She said another staircase had to be added to bring the building up to code.
Not only did the restoration project improve the look of the church, it also unearthed buried treasures. According to Dame, over the years walls had been built over beautiful stained glass windows. Those windows have now been revealed.
"They are just breathtaking now," she said.
In addition, a rare hand railing was also found "boxed in," according to Dame. It has been lovingly restored to its former beauty.
She attributes these finds to the expertise of the construction workers who were "very careful" in their work.
The second floor now has a large meeting room, a musical director's office, a music library and two additional classrooms.
The side of the church is now equipped with a handicap accessible ramp and a handicap accessible door entry.
New offices have been built to accommodate pastors Cynthia and David Bowman and the church secretary.
In addition to the pledges from church members and the construction loan, Dame said all church members were involved in raising funds for the renovation effort. From bake sales to concerts, the effort to restore the historic church that has meant so much to its members and to the borough has been enormous.
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
SCOTT PILLING staff The end of a renovation project at the First Presbyterian Church, Freehold, that has taken more than three years to complete will be celebrated on Sept. 10.
FREEHOLD - Officials at the First Presbyterian Church, West Main Street, are happy that a 31/2-year-long restoration project is now ready to be showcased.
According to Beverly Dame, who co-chaired the project with William Reid, a dedication ceremony will be held at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 10 at the church to celebrate the completion of the $1.3 million project.
According to Dame, a worship service will be held first to "thank the Lord for all His blessings." She said the whole project has been a journey of faith. "We believed as God's children that the Lord would guide us and lead us through the journey to completion."
Dame said although the long restoration and renovation project has been "overwhelming," the church community believes that without the Lord's help and guidance it would never have come to fruition.
After the worship service, light refreshments and a tour will be provided for guests in order to showcase all of the work that has taken place at the landmark house of worship.
According to Dame, parts of the church which were originally completed in 1873 had fallen into disrepair.
"We approached our Session (the church's governing body), with the idea of renovation. They gave us permission to go ahead with the project and we formed a building task force," Dame explained.
After securing pledges from the congregation members, the task force secured a construction loan from First Washington Bank, Freehold Township. Once the pledges were promised from church members and the loan was secured, the project was under way.
The architectural firm Holt, Morgan and Russell, of Princeton, was engaged to develop a plan for the renovations.
Dame said congregation members wanted to make the church more accessible to people who have disabilities and wanted more classrooms to "better spread the word of the Lord" in order to educate congregants age 3 to adult.
"We also had the only church in Freehold that was not air conditioned, so that was an important issue as well. We worked with the firm and came up with a couple of plans to show the congregation," Dame said.
The task force then hired general contractor Charles B. Hemeling and Son, of Shrewsbury, and the project was in full swing.
Dame said the scope of engineering services that went into air conditioning the landmark church was nothing short of a miracle.
Improvements include air conditioning and a full elevator system in the back of the church. The area was gutted, according to Dame, and the old woodwork and plaster work has been restored.
"It all looks magnificent," she said, adding that "certain things had to be brought up to code, but we kept the integrity of the church as it was when it was built after the Civil War."
The back of the church now has three full classrooms, a small kitchen and a bathroom. The "magnificent" staircase, according to Dame, has been restored and refinished. She said another staircase had to be added to bring the building up to code.
Not only did the restoration project improve the look of the church, it also unearthed buried treasures. According to Dame, over the years walls had been built over beautiful stained glass windows. Those windows have now been revealed.
"They are just breathtaking now," she said.
In addition, a rare hand railing was also found "boxed in," according to Dame. It has been lovingly restored to its former beauty.
She attributes these finds to the expertise of the construction workers who were "very careful" in their work.
The second floor now has a large meeting room, a musical director's office, a music library and two additional classrooms.
The side of the church is now equipped with a handicap accessible ramp and a handicap accessible door entry.
New offices have been built to accommodate pastors Cynthia and David Bowman and the church secretary.
In addition to the pledges from church members and the construction loan, Dame said all church members were involved in raising funds for the renovation effort. From bake sales to concerts, the effort to restore the historic church that has meant so much to its members and to the borough has been enormous.