Barre farmer offers relocation of former Zion Korean Church
Published: 01-17-2025 5:41 PM |
GREENFIELD — The Historical Commission voted unanimously Thursday evening to rescind the demolition delay it placed on the former Zion Korean Church, contingent on the execution of a Barre farm owner’s offer to dismantle and relocate the 182-year-old church, bringing it back to its original hometown.
“In some way, the whole thing is just mind-boggling,” Historical Commission Chair Margo Jones said. “What are the odds that Barre would come along and save the day? Especially [in Barre] where that’s the origination of the church, it’s almost too good to be true.”
On Jan. 2, the commission designated the 463 Main St. building a “preferably preserved significant building,” kicking off a six-month demolition delay. The designation came as Franklin County’s YMCA planned to either relocate or demolish the church to expand its playground and create a third preschool classroom for its programs.
Franklin County’s YMCA CEO Grady Vigneau addressed the Historical Commission at its meeting Thursday to announce that Philip Stevens, owner of Carter & Stevens Farm LLC, in Barre, offered to dismantle and move the building to his farm.
Vigneau explained Stevens and his family have already rebuilt 10 different buildings, and the church would serve as Stevens’ sixth historical project. Vigneau said he hoped to meet with the YMCA’s finance committee to plan a donation to Stevens to help him dismantle and rebuild the church as a “thank you.”
“The hopes were that the Barre Historical Commission and Barre Historical Society were bringing along local businessmen who had an interest in perhaps bringing the church back to Barre, where it originated,” Vigneau said, referencing a recent tour of the building. “This will be open to the public, it will be heavily traveled, along with the other historic properties they have there. It’s just really exciting to hear.”
The church building was built as the Coldbrook Springs Baptist Church in Barre in the 1840s and sits in the East Main/High Street Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The Greenfield Christian Scientist congregation bought the Greek revival-style church and moved it to Greenfield in 1936.
Although a June 9, 1953, Greenfield Recorder article stated that the church hosted abolitionist speakers such as William Lloyd Garisson and was moved to Greenfield from Barre during the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir, research conducted by Barre Historical Commission Chair Lucy Allen could not confirm the church’s ties to the abolitionist movement. She also said the church was moved from Barre as part of the Ware River Diversion Project.
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Vigneau told the Greenfield Historical Commission that although he is unsure what Stevens plans to do with the church, the farm owner had casually pitched multiple possible uses, such as a museum or petting zoo for children. Vigneau admitted he is not sure the latter option would be an appropriate use of a church.
“This is for people, families to visit,” Vigneau said. “Bottom line is it’s going to be used, it’s going to be preserved, it’s going to be respected, and people will be spending time there, which I think is really exciting.”
Greenfield Historical Commission member Jeremy Ebersole also expressed excitement for the church’s potential return to Barre, pointing out how rare it is to see a historical building move from one municipality to another and then return to its hometown. Ebersole referred to the move as a “minor miracle.”
“It’s very rare to find situations like this. Small-town historical societies are not always known for their vast amounts of resources,” Ebersole said. “I was not holding out for that solution, but it’s very rare for something like this to happen in the way that it has.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.