Former Catholic church to be home, studio for area sculptor

[ Originally published on: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 ]

GREENFIELD -- Wood sculptor Apple Berkery has always had an affinity for old churches -- and now she owns one.

Berkery bought the former Sacred Heart Church on Deerfield Street, paying $153,000 for the vacant church, according to Franklin County Registry of Deeds records.

The local artist, who currently lives in Deerfield with her partner, Paul Abrahams, plans to live in the basement of the church and sculpt wood in what used to be the nave, where parishioners worshipped each week.

'I've always loved this type of architecture and always wanted to live in an old church building,' said Berkery. 'The opportunity came along and I took it.'

Berkery sculpts all types of wood items, including theater props and figurines.

She said the Springfield Diocese, which owned the church, took almost everything that could be construed as religious out of the building, including the stained glass windows, which lined either side of the building.

Berkery received a special permit from the Greenfield Zoning Board of Appeals in August, which will allow her to live and work in the building located in a general commercial zone. She has just applied for building permits, which she needs to begin renovations. She expects it will take one to two years before she can live and work there.

'I bought new light fixtures -- the church took all of the ones that were here,' she said. 'And, I bought a pipe organ in Indiana. That's going to go on what used to be the altar.'

Pieces of the large, dark wood organ, including the pipes, lay in piles throughout the building.

Berkery also plans to keep the pews where they are, but put them on casters so she can move them if she needs to while she sculpts.

In January 2006, the parishes of Sacred Heart in Greenfield, and St. Anne's and St. Mary's in Turners Falls were merged into one parish, called Our Lady of Peace, and were located in the former St. Mary's Church on Seventh Street in Turners Falls, leaving the other two vacant and for sale.

Mark Dupont, spokesman for the diocese, said there is a deed restriction on the property, which says the building cannot be used for anything contrary to Catholic teachings -- he was not specific about what contrary uses might be.

Dupont said the church on Deerfield Street was established after 1912. The parish, which began in the basement of Holy Trinity Church on Main Street, purchased what was a German social hall at 58 Deerfield St. and remodeled it to suit Catholic worship. A nearby house on Prospect Street was acquired as its rectory.

'By the late 1990s, a declining number of local Catholics, and priests to serve them, led the diocese to yoke Sacred Heart with St. Mary and St. Anne parishes in Turners Falls,' said Dupont. 'Both Sacred Heart and St. Anne sites were made available for sale.'

Berkery hopes some day to replace the milky white windows the church installed after taking the stained glass ones, with stained glass once again. She said she'll probably keep the sky blue tin ceiling just as it is.

'I can tell I'm in for a big project, but I'm ready,' she said. 'I love the unusual architecture and I love buildings with towers -- or steeples. This was perfect.'

Berkery said the entire building, walls and roof, will have to be insulated and the wiring will have to be updated. She will also have to replace a few rotting planks and one window in the back of the church to comply with fire codes.

The confessional, which was located at the back of the church, was removed, but Berkery hopes to build something similar someday.

One stained glass window remains above the door leading into the nave, where parishioners once entered the church from Deerfield Street.

'That's the one piece of religious memorabilia left and I'm going to keep it that way,' she said.

Berkery will use the basement as her living space. She plans to renovate the kitchen, which has a sink, two stoves and refrigerator, and turn a large open area into a living space and bedroom.

'I will have to extend the wall of the bathroom and install a bathtub,' she said. 'There's a lot of space to work with down here.'

Berkery will use a room adjacent to the kitchen as her prep area, where she will ready her wood for sculpting.

'I'm going to preserve the building as best I can,' she said. 'I know people who spent a lot of time here and loved their church might like to hear that.'

 

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