Part 27 Peoples Leaves the Village
The need to move from the Ferry Village area, home to Peoples Church since 1853, was necessitated by the dramatic change in demographics afforded by the building of the two shipyards at the beginning and throughout World War II. Many of the “Village boys” signed up for active duty or were drafted into the Navy, Army or Marine Corps. Many of those “boys” would never return to the part of South Portland they had called home. The principal reason for not returning was the removal of 170 to 180 homes that had been razed or moved out of the area. If the average household was four at the time one could easily ascertain that nearly 1000 people would have been displaced. Even some of the local business folks, while continuing to operate their businesses in the village actually moved out of the village.
The trustees of Peoples Church began looking for a new site to build a new church. Several sites were considered, but two figured prominently in. One of the sites would remove the base of operation to a lot across the street from the Cape Theater. This theater, built in 1939-40 was a movie house built for the entertainment of local families and armed forces personnel stationed at Fort Preble and Fort Williams. Today that theater serves as the home to the Portland Players and is known as the Phyllis Thaxter Theater. The thoughts supporting that location was to take advantage of the traffic on Cottage /Shore Road and perhaps attract a number of folks that were stationed at the two forts. The principal arguments against that lot was that it was to far away from the Ferry Village base even though ironically that lot was only a block away from a location on Chase Street that was thought to be a good location for a mission church proposed in the 1920’s. That location also was only about two blocks from where the first meetinghouse was located on what today would be Pillsbury Street.
The site location committee turned its sights to a location next to a home at 312 Broadway. It was on the corner of Harriet Street. At the time there was also a double lot available opposite this lot. Both lots were large enough to build a church. The positives in selecting either lot was that it was closer to Ferry Village, it was on a very busy thoroughfare and a lot of traffic would pass by to and from Fort Preble and the shipyards.
It was also very close to the home of John Woodbury, the President of the Board of Trustees. His home was diagonally opposite the lot that was settled on.
In order to build a church during the war years the trustees had to apply to the War Production Board for a Certificate of Necessity. The Board granted the certificate indicating the “war necessity” of building the church. The lot at 310 Broadway was chosen and a major fund raising campaign was begun. One needs to remember that many of the families that had formerly been active participants in the life of the church had left because of military service or had moved because of displacement. The numbers remaining were much fewer and building a new church had to be daunting to say the least.
Reverend H. Travers Smith wrote an interesting letter dated June 6, 1946 to District Superintendent Reverend Elwin L. Wilson that describes some interesting material relative to costs and the difficulty of raising funds.
Reverend Elwin L. Wilson
226 Bradley Street
Portland, Maine
Dear Mr. Wilson:
As District Superintendent of the Portland District you are familiar with the conditions which have necessitated the building of the new People’s Church. At the outset of the war a Shipyard was built in the section of Ferry Village in South Portland adjacent to the former Church lot. In order to make room for this vast project 170 house were demolished or removed from the parish area causing great damage to our parish and the Church. This necessitated the building of a new Church in a different location rather than repairing the old building as had been contemplated by the parish in times past.
When the new site was chosen and the application made to the War Production Board for a certificate of necessity to build the Church a Certificate was granted on the grounds that this building project was of a war emergency nature.
When the estimates for the new building were first brought in by the architect it was thought that the entire building could be built for a cost of $43,000. However, last July when the bids were received back from the contractors it was found to our dismay that prices had been rising even as we planned the building of the Church. Prices for the building ran from $75,000 upwards. After many sessions with the architect and obtaining advice and help from a neighboring Catholic priest as to methods of cutting costs we were able to bring the figure down to approximately $56,000. We did not contract for the entire building at that time, however, because of the fact that the Certificate of Necessity authorized only the building of the complete basement and the shell of the Sanctuary and we proceeded on that basis contracting for the same with Googins and Clark at a figure of $46,270 for this part of the building.
Due to the fact that we were not able to contract for the building of the entire church we are now faced with the fact that we will have an unfinished Sanctuary when the present contract is completed in September of this year. Since the beginning of the building project two financial campaigns have been conducted in this parish. The first one netting us $16,751, and the second one $12,930 in pledges. The second campaign will be completed by December of 1947. The people, none of them well-to-do have given as generously as possible, as you know, in most cases to the degree of great sacrifice. It is noteworthy that the total pledges of $29,681 cover only a period of three years on the part of about 150 people giving.
This last year the old Church was torn down for the materials for the new Church, meanwhile the people have been meeting in an inadequate abandoned Church building. The quarters are small and cramped, the building is old and out of repair. No meetings other than worship meetings can be held in this building because of the inadequacy of the plant. The people have met this situation courageously! They have put up with these poor conditions both in the Church School and Sunday morning worship loyally. I have wondered at the teachers patience as well as the patience and loyalty of the other parishioners who have had to put up with these impossible situations.
A glance at the enclosed financial statement will show you that we are facing a crisis if we cannot receive outside help from some source or other. We are to receive a $20,000 loan, as indicated, but this is to be paid back 4,000 per year beginning January 1948 and so will tax the people heavily for the next 6 to 7 years to the utmost.
We cannot overestimate the importance of morning worship in the lives of Christians and the needed inspiration received by them in our Church Sanctuaries, yet we face the probability of being without a Sanctuary and therefore an adequate plant to carry on the work of the parish. These facts concerning this Church situation together with the information that you have already obtained in your personal contact with the parish give you a rather complete picture of the situation and I think you will agree the people are doing everything in their power to bring this Church building to final completion.
Facing the situation squarely I have been hoping of late it would be possible to obtain $10,000 from the Crusade for Christ. I note that they are aiding similar situations, and since this is a war emergency program I feel that we are worthy of a gift from this fund. Will you be willing to contact the right source in regard to this matter?
The need is urgent and the time is short, I hope something can be done immediately to ease the situation, as all other available sources have been contacted.
With best personal wishes,
Sincerely,
H. Travers Smith
Minister.
The Crusade for Christ had only been initiated in 1945 and was an available fund of money through national Methodist Church offices in Washington, D.C..
In the next part of this history we will explore the closing of the old church and the opening of the new church.
The need to move from the Ferry Village area, home to Peoples Church since 1853, was necessitated by the dramatic change in demographics afforded by the building of the two shipyards at the beginning and throughout World War II. Many of the “Village boys” signed up for active duty or were drafted into the Navy, Army or Marine Corps. Many of those “boys” would never return to the part of South Portland they had called home. The principal reason for not returning was the removal of 170 to 180 homes that had been razed or moved out of the area. If the average household was four at the time one could easily ascertain that nearly 1000 people would have been displaced. Even some of the local business folks, while continuing to operate their businesses in the village actually moved out of the village.
The trustees of Peoples Church began looking for a new site to build a new church. Several sites were considered, but two figured prominently in. One of the sites would remove the base of operation to a lot across the street from the Cape Theater. This theater, built in 1939-40 was a movie house built for the entertainment of local families and armed forces personnel stationed at Fort Preble and Fort Williams. Today that theater serves as the home to the Portland Players and is known as the Phyllis Thaxter Theater. The thoughts supporting that location was to take advantage of the traffic on Cottage /Shore Road and perhaps attract a number of folks that were stationed at the two forts. The principal arguments against that lot was that it was to far away from the Ferry Village base even though ironically that lot was only a block away from a location on Chase Street that was thought to be a good location for a mission church proposed in the 1920’s. That location also was only about two blocks from where the first meetinghouse was located on what today would be Pillsbury Street.
The site location committee turned its sights to a location next to a home at 312 Broadway. It was on the corner of Harriet Street. At the time there was also a double lot available opposite this lot. Both lots were large enough to build a church. The positives in selecting either lot was that it was closer to Ferry Village, it was on a very busy thoroughfare and a lot of traffic would pass by to and from Fort Preble and the shipyards.
It was also very close to the home of John Woodbury, the President of the Board of Trustees. His home was diagonally opposite the lot that was settled on.
In order to build a church during the war years the trustees had to apply to the War Production Board for a Certificate of Necessity. The Board granted the certificate indicating the “war necessity” of building the church. The lot at 310 Broadway was chosen and a major fund raising campaign was begun. One needs to remember that many of the families that had formerly been active participants in the life of the church had left because of military service or had moved because of displacement. The numbers remaining were much fewer and building a new church had to be daunting to say the least.
Reverend H. Travers Smith wrote an interesting letter dated June 6, 1946 to District Superintendent Reverend Elwin L. Wilson that describes some interesting material relative to costs and the difficulty of raising funds.
Reverend Elwin L. Wilson
226 Bradley Street
Portland, Maine
Dear Mr. Wilson:
As District Superintendent of the Portland District you are familiar with the conditions which have necessitated the building of the new People’s Church. At the outset of the war a Shipyard was built in the section of Ferry Village in South Portland adjacent to the former Church lot. In order to make room for this vast project 170 house were demolished or removed from the parish area causing great damage to our parish and the Church. This necessitated the building of a new Church in a different location rather than repairing the old building as had been contemplated by the parish in times past.
When the new site was chosen and the application made to the War Production Board for a certificate of necessity to build the Church a Certificate was granted on the grounds that this building project was of a war emergency nature.
When the estimates for the new building were first brought in by the architect it was thought that the entire building could be built for a cost of $43,000. However, last July when the bids were received back from the contractors it was found to our dismay that prices had been rising even as we planned the building of the Church. Prices for the building ran from $75,000 upwards. After many sessions with the architect and obtaining advice and help from a neighboring Catholic priest as to methods of cutting costs we were able to bring the figure down to approximately $56,000. We did not contract for the entire building at that time, however, because of the fact that the Certificate of Necessity authorized only the building of the complete basement and the shell of the Sanctuary and we proceeded on that basis contracting for the same with Googins and Clark at a figure of $46,270 for this part of the building.
Due to the fact that we were not able to contract for the building of the entire church we are now faced with the fact that we will have an unfinished Sanctuary when the present contract is completed in September of this year. Since the beginning of the building project two financial campaigns have been conducted in this parish. The first one netting us $16,751, and the second one $12,930 in pledges. The second campaign will be completed by December of 1947. The people, none of them well-to-do have given as generously as possible, as you know, in most cases to the degree of great sacrifice. It is noteworthy that the total pledges of $29,681 cover only a period of three years on the part of about 150 people giving.
This last year the old Church was torn down for the materials for the new Church, meanwhile the people have been meeting in an inadequate abandoned Church building. The quarters are small and cramped, the building is old and out of repair. No meetings other than worship meetings can be held in this building because of the inadequacy of the plant. The people have met this situation courageously! They have put up with these poor conditions both in the Church School and Sunday morning worship loyally. I have wondered at the teachers patience as well as the patience and loyalty of the other parishioners who have had to put up with these impossible situations.
A glance at the enclosed financial statement will show you that we are facing a crisis if we cannot receive outside help from some source or other. We are to receive a $20,000 loan, as indicated, but this is to be paid back 4,000 per year beginning January 1948 and so will tax the people heavily for the next 6 to 7 years to the utmost.
We cannot overestimate the importance of morning worship in the lives of Christians and the needed inspiration received by them in our Church Sanctuaries, yet we face the probability of being without a Sanctuary and therefore an adequate plant to carry on the work of the parish. These facts concerning this Church situation together with the information that you have already obtained in your personal contact with the parish give you a rather complete picture of the situation and I think you will agree the people are doing everything in their power to bring this Church building to final completion.
Facing the situation squarely I have been hoping of late it would be possible to obtain $10,000 from the Crusade for Christ. I note that they are aiding similar situations, and since this is a war emergency program I feel that we are worthy of a gift from this fund. Will you be willing to contact the right source in regard to this matter?
The need is urgent and the time is short, I hope something can be done immediately to ease the situation, as all other available sources have been contacted.
With best personal wishes,
Sincerely,
H. Travers Smith
Minister.
The Crusade for Christ had only been initiated in 1945 and was an available fund of money through national Methodist Church offices in Washington, D.C..
In the next part of this history we will explore the closing of the old church and the opening of the new church.
posted by Arthur Tordoff | 7:31 AM
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