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Interesting Facts about the first Sanctuary
in the Present Day Church - 1914
The contractor - The building committee had enough confidence in F. D. Brewster, the contractor, to let him construct the church without a supervisor, and today you have a church that is a credit to him workmanship.
It is a real and interesting problem to select the material, style and plan for a church edifice that will meet the requirements of a church of today and at the same time anticipate as far as possible the needs of tomorrow. In the classiic style of architecture, built of dark red paving brick and Carthage stone ashler for the first story, we have voiced the spirit of permanence, beauty and devotion. Architecturally the building is almost pure Classic: simple but elegant in adornment without and within. If faces the west and norht with two pillars and pediments on the north and west. There is a wide, inviting entrance with each steps and triple double doors to be lighted with two outside buttress lights adn two front lights. Gentle inclines are subsituted for the usual steps found in the lobby, which will by its size be especial value in the social life of the church. The auditorium is dignified with straight lines followed in the arrangement. The pulpit is at the front end with a main entrance on both sides and a convenient pulpit door at the right. The pulpit platform is a half circle with a radius of ten feet. The quarter sawed oak pews are arranged to conform to it. The closed sunday school rooms are at the four corners of the building. The Sunday School aditorium and alcoves are at the east end of the building facing the pulpit. It is a Sunday School Church and the superintendent will preside at the pulpit. Sliding partitions separate the alcoves. A sliding partition operated by a motor, separates the main auditorium from the smaller auditorium to the east. Every seat in the house in within sight and hearing of the choir and pulpit. There is north and south ventilation and light, and ventilation and light through the great central dome. The windows raise and lower after the fashion of residence windows. In addition there is a ventilating system provided with an air washer and steam radiation, electric driven fan that changes the air in the building completely every fifteen minutes. Steam heat is used. The windows were made by the Jacoby Art Glass Company, and are of spendid workmanship and artistic merit. Eight emblems are used in the Sunday School alcoves and three figures of Christ in other points of vantage in the building. The choir is back of the pulpit and five feet above and so arranged that the speaker's head will not appear above the rail. The organ occupies the front of the building back of the pulpit and choir. The lighting is semi-indirect and the latest product of the Macbeth-Evans Company. The system is under perfect control and has unusual possibilities. The choir loft will seat forty-six and the two side balconies in the auditorium one hundred each. The main floor will accommodate 550 and the total seating capacity is over 1, 200. The sub=story has a ceiling ranging from 12 1/2 to 16 feet in height, and in addition to the features of a well-ordered church has a gymnasium 60 x 32 feet from from posts, with maple floor and an average height of ceiling of fifteen feet. The sub-story has wood floors on top of waterproofed concrete, in only five steps down, and has full sized windows and accordion doors. The color scheme throughtout is tones of buff, gold, cream, and ivory with a moderate use of plastic relief. There is no frescoing. the draperies and carpet are green. The building is finished in oad. the furniture is of quartered oak. Cast bronze nameplates are used for the memorial windows and brass rails for the balconies and central dome.
1950's
The center aisle was opened to the front of the sancturary sometime before December 30, 1951. There were wine-colored velvet drapes around the balcony on the brass rails and rosy-beige aisle carpets. A new moller pipe organ built in Hagerstown, Maryland was purchased in the mid-1950s and the organ was moved from the center of the choir loft to its present location.
1960's
The focus of the 60's was not the sanctuary, but the building of the Education Building in response to an overflow Sunday School attendance that, as in 1914, had exceeded 400.
1970's
In 1977 the Church Conference voted, over a four years period, to restore, renew, and preserve our present church property. During this period, repairs involved plaster and painting, removal of the vertical sliding door at the rear of the sanctuary, improvements to the four mail sanctuary lights, re-varnishing the pews and adding pew cushions. New pews, of laminated wood, were purchased for the back section of the sanctuary. The choir loft was redesigned and new choir chairs were purchased.
Orlin Sell of Fredonia handcrafted the large wooden cross and altar table.
2000's
Wesley Center (a multi-purpose building located behind the present church) was built and Wally Hutchison created the stained glass window in Wesley Center and repaired some stained glass windows in the church.
2003's
The Sanctuary was remodeled with new carpet, curtains, sound system, lighting, the altar area was redone adding center steps and eliminated small doors on both sides.Handrails were added along north and south sanctuary walls and the back sunday school rooms were changed into the Comfort Room by removing doors and adding a window.
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