A grant recently awarded to a group striving to rebuild an historic church in downtown Saratoga Springs will not only give construction efforts a needed stimulus, but also attract some attention to the long, laborious project.
At least, that’s what members of the United Preservation Hall effort hope will happen through the $224,256 challenge grant awarded through the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Once they can match the funds, it will be enough to finish renovating the 1871 building’s entrance in appropriately grandiose fashion. And that will hopefully show passersby that something unique is happening inside the Washington Street church.
Once the outside is finished, people will think differently about the hall, said Mary Beth McGarrahan, who works part time as office manager for Universal Preservation Hall.
`Non-profits right now are closing their doors,` she continued. `We’ve had to come to an almost complete standstill until we can have more money in hand.`
Breaking that standstill comes as a relief for this longstanding effort. The UPH became a nonprofit group in 2001, having formed a coalition to save the crumbling building after it was closed for safety reasons in 1999. The United Baptist Church congregation worshiping there could not support the needed repairs and the building seemed to be on the fast track to demolition for a time.
`Had we not acted, the structure would not be,` said Tom Lewis, UPH president of the board of directors. `It would simply be a pile of bricks and broken glass.`
While $2.6 million has been raised and poured back into the building since then, McGarrahan said she’s routinely contacted by people who didn’t realize that the building has been open and hosting events for years now. That’s mostly because it was only recently that work could be started on the exterior of the building`the bulk of the original fundraising went into saving it from collapse.
`The outside has looked like downtown Baghdad,` joked Lewis. `We had no choice but to put the money we had raised into ensuring the integrity of the structure.`
Those improvements include structural work, the installation of heating, new flooring and some electrical upgrades (much of the original wiring was installed in the late 1920s by volunteer labor), not to mention closing gaping holes in the roof.
Once the matching funds are raised and the entrance is finished off, Lewis estimated about $1 million worth of work will remain before Universal Preservation Hall can potentially become the city’s premiere year-round event space.
His optimism is largely because of the grand hall, located on the second floor. While capacity is limited to 300 now, once new flooring is installed and balcony repairs are complete, it will hold 700. Already, the hall has seen significant repairs of its ceiling, stained glass windows and electric work, but much remains.
`Pretty much anywhere you look, we have work to do,` said McGarrahan.
That hasn’t stopped the hall from playing host to weddings, receptions, performances and concerts. On a recent Sunday afternoon, about 130 turned out for a recital by the Nance Dance Company.
Lewis predicted that, in time, the room’s heavenly acoustics and remarkable architecture will make it a much-sought venue.
`Not only does it preserve an historically black congregation in the center of the city.but it also does some wonderful things for the community,` he said. `There is no community hall that is this size.`
Downstairs, a smaller meeting space has been host to lectures, fundraisers and luncheons. A nearby room littered with tools and equipment will one day become an on-site kitchen for caterers.
Down the hall, a designated space for the United Baptist Church is already established. A mutually beneficial agreement has been worked out between the two groups that allowed the UPH to take control of the building while the church holds the land it sits on. The congregation will continue to worship in the historic church.
Despite having slowly climbed a `mountain of money` for the better part of a decade to reach this point, and with the end still not in sight, Lewis said that the continued success of the effort has been encouraging.
`There were a lot of people who said this would never work. Fortunately with every improvement we’ve made to the building, we’ve gained credibility in the community with the few naysayers,` he said. `I personally am very fortunate to live in a town which values such things as this building.`
For information on the Universal Preservation Hall, to donate to the restoration effort or to inquire about hosting an event there, visit www.universalpreservationhall.org.“
