AUSTINTOWN Effort seeks to save old church

Foundation members believe grants could help pay for the move.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- The 104-year-old church near the corner of Mahoning Avenue and South Turner Road has been a part of Bob Bishop's life since he was a boy.
Bishop remembers watching his mother kneel in front of the dark wooden pews during evangelical services when he was young. Years later, he came to the church's arching white sanctuary to see his children get married.
Now, at 83, Bishop is hoping he won't see the church demolished. The First United Methodist Church of West Austintown, which owns the old church building, is planning to have it removed or demolished in the near future.
"I'd be pleased to see it preserved," said Bishop, the historian for the First United Methodist Church. "That is my wish and hope."
Some Austintown Growth Foundation members share Bishop's desire to preserve the church, and they have proposed moving it west to land near the historic Strock Stone House on Mahoning Avenue.
"The belief is that structure is among the oldest in the township. Before it's lost, people wanted to make sure there isn't something of value there," said Dr. Fred Owens, growth foundation president.
Owens said if the church is moved to the Strock land, it could be used by the community for meetings and weddings, much like the St. James Meeting House in Boardman Township Park. Boardman officials have said as many as three weddings a day are held in the meeting house on weekends.
The Boardman meeting house was an Episcopal church on U.S. Route 224 until 1972, when the Boardman Historical Society raised $45,000 to move it to the park.
More details
Joyce Pogany, president of the Austintown Historical Society, said if the old church is preserved, it also could be used to teach local residents about the township's history. She noted that the township has only two historic structures open to the public: The Austin Log Cabin on South Raccoon Road and the Strock House.
"We've torn down everything that's old," added Carol Fye, a growth foundation member.
Fye approached First United Methodist about saving the old church last year, after she saw pictures of the building in a township calendar.
At the time, First United Methodist was working on constructing a new 10,000-square-foot facility to replace the old church, which no longer met the congregation's needs.
The Rev. G. Thomas Badanjek said that in his seven years as church pastor, the size of the church congregation has more than doubled to about 175 members. He noted that the old church is not handicap-accessible and that it has maintenance problems.
The old church also does not have a modern kitchen or space for Sunday school classes, the Rev. Mr. Badanjek said.
"We wanted something new. We wanted something modern," he said.
First United Methodist records show that the old church opened in 1899 as the Evangelical Church Building. At the time, it was located closer to the corner of Mahoning Avenue and South Turner Road.
In 1924, the Evangelical congregation merged with the United Evangelical Church, and the old building became known as the Grace Evangelical United Brethren Church. The Grace Evangelical congregation moved the church to its present site in 1957.
A decade later, in 1967, Grace Evangelical merged with West Austintown Methodist Episcopal Church to form the First United Methodist Church of West Austintown.
What happened
Mr. Badanjek said that before First United Methodist's new facility was built, church officials had discussed renovating the old church to better meet the congregation's needs.
Officials determined that the renovations would cost between $1 million and $1.5 million. The new facility cost about $800,000 to construct, Mr. Badanjek said.
"There was never any doubt which way we should go," he said.
The First United Methodist congregation held its first service in the facility earlier this month.
Mr. Badanjek noted that First United Methodist officials had talked about moving the old church to Austintown or Jackson Township parks. The officials realized, however, that the church was too tall to make it under overpasses on the way to both parks.
Mr. Badanjek also added that it could be expensive to move the church.
"The Lord has blessed us with money, but we just don't have the money to move the building," he said. "Nobody wants to see that building destroyed. We just don't see any alternatives."
But Fye stressed she believes the growth foundation could get grants for the project through state and federal historical and preservation societies.
"The means are there, if we can connect with the right people at the right time," she said.
The Mahoning Valley Sanitary District would have to approve the move, as it owns the Strock Cabin land. The township has leased the land from the MVSD for 99 years for $1.
Mr. Badanjek said he wants to have the church's future determined by the end of the summer.
hill@vindy.com