MACHIAS – A group of history lovers say they are willing to raise money to preserve an old chapel at the Machias Community Church.
But church officials say they’re not ready to go along with the idea because they don’t know what they will do with the building.
For about a century, the white clapboard chapel was used for weddings, funerals and worship.
Michael V. Martina / The Herald
Now it serves as a storage unit, filled with chairs, a broken heater and cooler boxes, while people sing, laugh, cry and pray at the church’s new home just a few steps away.
Moss creeps over the roof of the old chapel. The church put a fence around the chapel a year ago fearing tiles on the roof could come loose and slide off.
But the old chapel is still full of memories for many in the community.
Roberta Menzies, 80, started attending the church when she was 12. Her mother-in-law was one of the church’s original staff in the 1900s. Her grandson got married at the building.
The chapel looks run down, she said.
“If we don’t do something, it will eventually be destroyed,” said Menzies, a member of the Machias Historical Society.
The group, which has about 100 members, has approached the church saying it wants to raise money to preserve the old chapel, Menzies said.
“We’d like to work with the church because it’s their property and we don’t own any of it,” she said.
But the chapel isn’t in need of immediate repair, said pastor Ron Sallee.
Though the building has some rotting wood and some small cracks in the windows, it’s in good shape with no leaks in the roof, Sallee said.
Sallee, who has been with the church for more than 18 years, understands the nostalgia people feel for the building.
But the church, with about 220 members, needs to identify its future plans first, which would dictate the chapel’s destiny, he said.
“Before deciding what the building needs, we need to decide what the church needs,” he said.
Meanwhile, Don Hampton, 65, the historical society’s president, said the building’s significance goes beyond the church.
“It’s just a landmark in the community,” said Hampton, who got married at the chapel in 1958. “It means a lot to the community.”
Ken Ainsworth, 53, has attended the church since 1978 and is a board member.
Like others, Ainsworth said he has fond memories of the chapel but thinks the church’s needs should come first.
“We’re very concerned about what God wants us to do for the people who come here,” he said.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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