MACHIAS — The Centre Street Congregational Church Building Preservation Committee is seeking public input on renovation plans for the historic 1837 structure and its potential use as a community gathering place.
“We need to involve more people. We need to bring more people to the table who care about the church and its placement in the town and what it means to the town,” Lynne Gibson, chair of the committee, said.
The building at 9 Center St. features a steeple that is an integral, iconic part of Machias’ skyline, Gibson said.
“The steeple impacts the skyline in every direction,” she said. “Not having it would be a huge hole in the skyline of Machias.”
The work is estimated to cost more than $1 million, according to a framing assessment by Preservation Timber Framing of Berwick.
“The steeple sits quite high in the air, and so it has been buffeted by many storms, and it is twisted a little bit,” Gibson said, and it must be removed and repaired.
The report also found that the foundation of the church — the “bones” of the church — is “excellent,” Gibson said. “It was built to last.”
The building is one of the oldest surviving examples of Gothic architecture in Maine, according to the nomination form for its entry into the National Register of Historic Places, which was granted in 1975.
The goal of the survey and the committee is to “figure out new ways the church building could be of use to the community and provide space that may be needed in Machias,” Gibson said.
The committee is studying models of other churches that have undergone a similar “metamorphosis,” turning a church building into a nonprofit organization — such as the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath and the Friends of the First Congregational Church of East Machias. Gibson said the transformation would increase opportunities for grant funding.
“We’re thinking we may separate the church from the worship and the mission of our congregation,” she said.
The 1837 building is three stories tall, with a steeple, and was originally erected by shipbuilders in the congregation.
“You can see buttresses that they installed to hold the upper sections up,” Gibson said.
The church includes eight “very, very large” stained-glass windows made in Minnesota, a Paul Revere bell and a George Stephens organ.
“There’s a lot of history in our church that we want to honor,” Gibson said.
The Centre Street Congregational Church is looking to expand its reach in the Machias community while continuing charitable programs, such as free meals, its Christmas Giving Tree and volunteer work during the Machias Wild Blueberry Festival in the summer.
“We take our mission in the community very seriously,” Gibson said.
The Machias Area Food Pantry was previously located in the church vestry, but moved when the space proved too small.
“During COVID, it became clear that the church couldn’t house the food pantry,” Gibson, who also serves on the food pantry’s board, said.
The Machias Bay Chamber Concert series takes advantage of the church’s acoustics for its performances. Gibson said Thomas Wolf, who cofounded the series with his brother, Andrew, often praised the sound in the church’s sanctuary.
“He said ‘I don’t know what it is about buildings built by farmers and shipbuilders, but the acoustics are amazing,’” she said.
The church raised about $1.5 million around 2005 to make the building accessible, adding an annex and an elevator, Gibson said.
She noted the generational ties many people in Machias have to the church — whether through relatives’ weddings or funerals — and how important the church is to the community.
“People are going to have to be invested in preserving the church for the next generation,” Gibson said.
The survey states that the Building Preservation Committee “would love to be able to see this building used more for what it was intended to be at its completion 189 years ago: a gathering and meeting place for everyone, used for the betterment of our amazing community.”
The survey is open to all and available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/centre-st-church-survey25.
This story has been updated to remove reference that repairs are needed to bring it up to code. The building is currently up to fire code with fire alarms and a sprinkler system, according to Lynne Gibson, chair of the church’s building preservation committee.
