Part 41 Major Changes in the church property
Since the move of Peoples to its new home at 310 Broadway in 1946 little had changed to the property physical structure. Yes, there was a new organ in the chancel and the parsonage next door had been converted to an education building. When that occurred the parishioners purchased a new parsonage on Beverly Street, a location away from the busyness of Broadway. While an interesting and useable property with many amenities it seemed that the trustees felt that there was something constantly being repaired at that property and so by 1972 a sub-committee of the Trustees began looking for a suitable new property for a parsonage. Larry Philips was the head of that sub-committee. At that time no other property was found and the trustees decided to stick with the Beverly Street property.
The most ambitious physical project that the people of the parish would undertake was to construct a building designed to give the Sunday School ample room to serve the youth of the community. Initiation of the project was late in 1969 with completion three years later. This project would also give the church and its organizations a flexible space that could be used for a number of as yet unnamed projects and activities.
Dr. Allen Regan of the United Methodist Church Board of Missions was hired as the consultant. The building committee from the church included Earl Nicholson as the Chairperson with the following members of the church serving on the committee: Mahlon Johnson, Bert Farnham, John Robinson, Ernest Darling, Ada Tordoff, and Carolyn Fawcett.
Wilbur Ingalls was hired as the architect for the project. In the final design the proposed new building would have a large open area that could be used as a large gathering area or be divided by folding partitions into smaller units within the whole. A church office, a women’s parlor, a nursery, a kitchen, restrooms and utility rooms were built into the design. The new hall would be connected to the main church building via a glassed in and roofed breezeway. The entire building would be constructed on a slab with all piping embedded in the concrete. The building was to be covered by a flat roof. The plans were displayed prominently before the building campaign began. A vote was eventually taken to undertake the project and while some folks were reluctant to adopt such a project, the project was passed and bids for construction were readied by June 1970. The financial campaign had begun some years before and therefore preliminary money for architectural fees and campaign moneys had already been raised. Initially the campaign called for $80,000 to be raised by pledges. The estimated cost of the project given by the winning bid was in the vicinity of $110,000. The construction firm of Langford and Low submitted the winning bid. The estimated time of construction was 5 months. In the long run cost overruns amounted to approximately 2.5%, considered good at that point in time raising the final cost to around $125,000.
Before the building could be built there was the need to raze the old education building. Larry Philips found 4 companies that would submit bids. Interestingly one of those companies submitted that they would like to move the building to another location at 388 Broadway. That bid and offer was accepted making way for the construction of the new building. It was quite a sight to behold to see this three-story property being moved from its old location to the new one. The move actually took place during the night to avoid a total disturbance to traffic on heavily traveled Broadway.
Actual construction began in August, 1970. The original estimate of five months to construct the building was revised to a longer period for completion.
Knowing the cost of the new building pledges ran high and each of the organizations of the church participated in raising funds or purchasing the furnishings that would make the new hall a home for the community. The Youth Fellowship as reported by President Marilyn Darling would raise $450 through a Slave Day and Spaghetti Supper. The first gift to the new facility was the gift of the Pastor’s desk given by Reverend and Mrs. Louis Staples. The WSCS and Manter Class were responsible for purchasing the furniture, tables and lamps, and rugs for the Parlor. The Nicholson Family was responsible for supplying the money to furnish everything that would make the Nursery the best-furnished room for small children in any of the South Portland churches. It was a bright and colorful room equipped even with a toilet as well as cribs, and bookcases that had been built by Harold Craigs. A Cheshire cat clock hung on a wall and the tail serving as a pendulum counted off the minutes that children were there. Toys, books, jump seats, a high chair and many other needs were available for the tots that would use the facility each Sunday or when there was an event in church or the hall on other days of the week. Marlene Tordoff had the responsibility of acquiring the furnishings and everything else that made this location the hit that it was. The Naomi Circle purchased miscellaneous kitchen needs such as bread baskets, salt and pepper shakers and sugar and creamers. The spinet piano in the hall was a gift of Glen and Carolyn Fawcett. The project moneys paid for other furnishings including: tables and chairs and the caddies that held them. Coat racks and hangers were also included in the budget. The cutting table in the kitchen and the stove and dishwasher were as one might expect part of the budget.
Once the building construction was underway it was also necessary to have a committee that would meet to determine proper uses of the property not only by church members but others as well. Rules of use were established and costs for rental were determined. Interestingly the Men’s Club who had sponsored Fried Clam Suppers for years were happy when the Conora and then Harmon Clam Supper people could bring their own cooking van rather than bringing the friolators into the new building. “No Smoking” signs were placed in specific places in the new building. Community groups would pay $5 an hour for the use of the hall and an additional $10 an hour for Sexton fees. An additional $2.50 would be charged per hour if the kitchen were to be used. Church members wishing to use the hall would only have to pay the sexton fee, providing they needed the sexton. No outside group could use the hall for fund raising purposes and absolutely no alcohol could be used on the property. Because there was some pilferage that took place throughout all of the buildings in the initial years of the new hall the Administrative Board finally took a vote to make sure that the church and hall doors would be locked, not left unlocked as had been the practice before.
The five months originally expected to complete the project beginning in August of 1970
was obviously not enough since the Trustees didn’t sign off with Langford and Low until October 1, 1971.
One of the first requests by an outside user came from a Mrs. Smith who ran a Day Care and was looking for a larger space than her own home. Initially she only wanted to use it for 3 or 4 months. All things considered her request was denied. Another denial of use was given to the Bahai community who wanted to use the facility to show a film on the Holy Lands.
The pastor at the time of construction was Blake Ellis. Just as the project was reaching completion the Maine Conference of the United Methodist Church had appointed him to the position of District Superintendent. He would succeed a former Peoples pastor, H. Travers Smith in that role. At the banquet held in his honor at the conclusion of eight years of spiritual service, the Trustees announced that the new hall had been named Ellis Hall in his honor.
Ellis Hall has been used by many church and outside organizations over its 35 years of service, but the building has had its pains as well. The piping that had been embedded in the concrete began to leak leading eventually to a total revision of the piping above ground within a few years not without heavy cost. . The flat roof construction of the building led to sagging during the winter months when there was heavy snow. This extra weight placed a great deal of stress on carrying beams and that stress in turn did not allow the dividing panels in the main hall to function. A hip roof was built atop the flat roof for substantially more money, but appears to have answered that issue.
Since the move of Peoples to its new home at 310 Broadway in 1946 little had changed to the property physical structure. Yes, there was a new organ in the chancel and the parsonage next door had been converted to an education building. When that occurred the parishioners purchased a new parsonage on Beverly Street, a location away from the busyness of Broadway. While an interesting and useable property with many amenities it seemed that the trustees felt that there was something constantly being repaired at that property and so by 1972 a sub-committee of the Trustees began looking for a suitable new property for a parsonage. Larry Philips was the head of that sub-committee. At that time no other property was found and the trustees decided to stick with the Beverly Street property.
The most ambitious physical project that the people of the parish would undertake was to construct a building designed to give the Sunday School ample room to serve the youth of the community. Initiation of the project was late in 1969 with completion three years later. This project would also give the church and its organizations a flexible space that could be used for a number of as yet unnamed projects and activities.
Dr. Allen Regan of the United Methodist Church Board of Missions was hired as the consultant. The building committee from the church included Earl Nicholson as the Chairperson with the following members of the church serving on the committee: Mahlon Johnson, Bert Farnham, John Robinson, Ernest Darling, Ada Tordoff, and Carolyn Fawcett.
Wilbur Ingalls was hired as the architect for the project. In the final design the proposed new building would have a large open area that could be used as a large gathering area or be divided by folding partitions into smaller units within the whole. A church office, a women’s parlor, a nursery, a kitchen, restrooms and utility rooms were built into the design. The new hall would be connected to the main church building via a glassed in and roofed breezeway. The entire building would be constructed on a slab with all piping embedded in the concrete. The building was to be covered by a flat roof. The plans were displayed prominently before the building campaign began. A vote was eventually taken to undertake the project and while some folks were reluctant to adopt such a project, the project was passed and bids for construction were readied by June 1970. The financial campaign had begun some years before and therefore preliminary money for architectural fees and campaign moneys had already been raised. Initially the campaign called for $80,000 to be raised by pledges. The estimated cost of the project given by the winning bid was in the vicinity of $110,000. The construction firm of Langford and Low submitted the winning bid. The estimated time of construction was 5 months. In the long run cost overruns amounted to approximately 2.5%, considered good at that point in time raising the final cost to around $125,000.
Before the building could be built there was the need to raze the old education building. Larry Philips found 4 companies that would submit bids. Interestingly one of those companies submitted that they would like to move the building to another location at 388 Broadway. That bid and offer was accepted making way for the construction of the new building. It was quite a sight to behold to see this three-story property being moved from its old location to the new one. The move actually took place during the night to avoid a total disturbance to traffic on heavily traveled Broadway.
Actual construction began in August, 1970. The original estimate of five months to construct the building was revised to a longer period for completion.
Knowing the cost of the new building pledges ran high and each of the organizations of the church participated in raising funds or purchasing the furnishings that would make the new hall a home for the community. The Youth Fellowship as reported by President Marilyn Darling would raise $450 through a Slave Day and Spaghetti Supper. The first gift to the new facility was the gift of the Pastor’s desk given by Reverend and Mrs. Louis Staples. The WSCS and Manter Class were responsible for purchasing the furniture, tables and lamps, and rugs for the Parlor. The Nicholson Family was responsible for supplying the money to furnish everything that would make the Nursery the best-furnished room for small children in any of the South Portland churches. It was a bright and colorful room equipped even with a toilet as well as cribs, and bookcases that had been built by Harold Craigs. A Cheshire cat clock hung on a wall and the tail serving as a pendulum counted off the minutes that children were there. Toys, books, jump seats, a high chair and many other needs were available for the tots that would use the facility each Sunday or when there was an event in church or the hall on other days of the week. Marlene Tordoff had the responsibility of acquiring the furnishings and everything else that made this location the hit that it was. The Naomi Circle purchased miscellaneous kitchen needs such as bread baskets, salt and pepper shakers and sugar and creamers. The spinet piano in the hall was a gift of Glen and Carolyn Fawcett. The project moneys paid for other furnishings including: tables and chairs and the caddies that held them. Coat racks and hangers were also included in the budget. The cutting table in the kitchen and the stove and dishwasher were as one might expect part of the budget.
Once the building construction was underway it was also necessary to have a committee that would meet to determine proper uses of the property not only by church members but others as well. Rules of use were established and costs for rental were determined. Interestingly the Men’s Club who had sponsored Fried Clam Suppers for years were happy when the Conora and then Harmon Clam Supper people could bring their own cooking van rather than bringing the friolators into the new building. “No Smoking” signs were placed in specific places in the new building. Community groups would pay $5 an hour for the use of the hall and an additional $10 an hour for Sexton fees. An additional $2.50 would be charged per hour if the kitchen were to be used. Church members wishing to use the hall would only have to pay the sexton fee, providing they needed the sexton. No outside group could use the hall for fund raising purposes and absolutely no alcohol could be used on the property. Because there was some pilferage that took place throughout all of the buildings in the initial years of the new hall the Administrative Board finally took a vote to make sure that the church and hall doors would be locked, not left unlocked as had been the practice before.
The five months originally expected to complete the project beginning in August of 1970
was obviously not enough since the Trustees didn’t sign off with Langford and Low until October 1, 1971.
One of the first requests by an outside user came from a Mrs. Smith who ran a Day Care and was looking for a larger space than her own home. Initially she only wanted to use it for 3 or 4 months. All things considered her request was denied. Another denial of use was given to the Bahai community who wanted to use the facility to show a film on the Holy Lands.
The pastor at the time of construction was Blake Ellis. Just as the project was reaching completion the Maine Conference of the United Methodist Church had appointed him to the position of District Superintendent. He would succeed a former Peoples pastor, H. Travers Smith in that role. At the banquet held in his honor at the conclusion of eight years of spiritual service, the Trustees announced that the new hall had been named Ellis Hall in his honor.
Ellis Hall has been used by many church and outside organizations over its 35 years of service, but the building has had its pains as well. The piping that had been embedded in the concrete began to leak leading eventually to a total revision of the piping above ground within a few years not without heavy cost. . The flat roof construction of the building led to sagging during the winter months when there was heavy snow. This extra weight placed a great deal of stress on carrying beams and that stress in turn did not allow the dividing panels in the main hall to function. A hip roof was built atop the flat roof for substantially more money, but appears to have answered that issue.
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