Henry Raymond
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: nancyd on January 23, 2012, 11:30:10 AM
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Hi Everyone,
I would like to know who is in charge of the Baptist Church Building? We are in need of a community center that is not within the confines, restrictions of the school. I can think of many activities that our community can enjoy together.....
Nancyd
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Nancy,
The Baptist church I think is run by the Mason's. I suspect if you called Sally (and her husband is Wayne) Sweet, she would know.
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The Baptist trustees are officially responsible for the Baptist Church Building. Corey Hinton is currently the Worshipful Master of the Masons.
The Citizens for Fairfax Community is a 3 year old committee of Fairfax citizens currently working to find ways to raise money to create a community center at the Baptist Church Building. We are hoping to work collaboratively with the Baptist trustees of the United Church and the Masons to achieve this goal. Preserving the historic building and creating a multigenerational community center are our goals.
If you would like to get involved, CFC meetings are posted on this site, and indeed, the most recent minutes are available here. I checked; the minutes of the January meeting are three or four from the bottom of the first page of community events.
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http://www.vtgrandpa.com/forum/index.php?topic=13356.0 (http://www.vtgrandpa.com/forum/index.php?topic=13356.0)
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As I am often reminded, The Baptist Building is owned by the United Church of Fairfax; The Freemasons of Fairfax are only tenants. I'm not fully versed in the details, but I am told that the lease agreement between Lamoille Lodge and the United Church of Fairfax expires in four or five years, after which is undecided. I hope that when the time comes to consider where to hold our meetings, the Baptist Building will be one of our options.
I would also add a disclaimer to my status as the Master of Lamoille Lodge. The Freemasons are a democracy. and my role is similar to that of moderator. I am not personally empowered to allow use of the building. If someone would like to contact me (hintoncd@us.ibm.com) I would be happy to bring your request up at our next meeting. We do not currently have a clean process or policy on allowing use of the building... but we are working on one in deep collaboration with the church and the CFC.
I strongly support a Community Center in Fairfax. I strongly support restoring the Baptist Building. Its historic and iconic value would far outweigh any additional cost of restoration vs building new. I do hope that Lamoille Lodge will have a home when all is done.
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Actually, the building is owned by the Baptist Trustees of the United Church! And I whole heartedly agree with the importance of restoring the building so that one day it can be used as a community center. There is no r eason to think that the Lodge which has long worked to maintain the building, won't have a home there!
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From a planning perspective, I know the preservation group in Richmond were successfull saving a historic barn on Rt 2. The CFC team may want to contact them for tips and hints.
it goes without saying, this beautiful and historical building should be preserved/renovated such that the entire town can benefit. Rev Griffin mentioned earlier, the concept of Multi-Generational .. I feel this is a vital ingredient as well ... The facility's future shoud serve multiple organizations.
Finally, from a revenue perspective, the meeting space could be adapted for corporate meetings, I know the old barn on RT2 has been used for this purpose too. Not sure about their success rate ...
Good Luck, I'm sure you will be able to acquire the needed funds.
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Rev. Elizabeth, Do you know if making the Baptist Church Handicap accessible is in the plan?
This definitely is something I always look at from having a mother who needed to use a wheel chair when she left the house in her final years. Having an event outside or inside at the Baptist Church is a wonderful community event. However, bringing a disabled person has always been a challenge as access to a bathroom or craft sale is not a possibility.
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I believe it is. If the building were to be renovated it would have to be made handicap accessible!