FEATURE STORY:
Vermont Churches Reclaim
Their Role in the Community
W
hen the congregation of St. Stephen’s Epis-
toric preservation needs. Partners connected McGary with
copal Church in Middlebury, Vermont first
the Preservation Trust of Vermont which assigned the
caught wind of plans for a four-year railroad
church to field service specialist Scott Newman, the former
reconfiguration in their backyard, its leaders knew they
Historic Preservation Officer for the Vermont Transporta-
needed to act. The project, led by the U.S. Department of
tion Authority. “When we asked him for advice about the
Transportation and Vermont Transportation Authority,
upcoming construction, he immediately gave us very de-
placed a blast site just 25 feet from the doors of their 190-
tailed advice on what to demand in order to protect our
year-old limestone church. Downtown Middlebury has
building,” she said. Following that fateful meeting, St. Ste-
nearly 86 historic buildings on the National Register of His-
phen’s would become a catalyst for community pushback
toric Places and is the largest historic district in Vermont. As
and an active voice leading the charge for the protection of
the project expanded
from a simple bridge re-
placement to major rail
infrastructure repairs, the
threat of damage and dis-
ruption in Middlebury
loomed over the town like
a brewing storm.
Expecting the worst,
the congregation began to
take matters into its own
hands. “We are clearly the
most affected church and
may be the most endan-
gered institution in the
whole community,” said
The Rev. Susan McGary,
rector of St. Stephen’s.
“Once the scale of the pro-
ject had expanded, no one
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Middlebury, VT.
was making any signs of
Photo courtesy of The Preservation Trust of Vermont.
revisiting the scope of
possible damage to his-
Middlebury’s historic district.
toric buildings and sites.”
Resistance to the upcoming construction gathered mo-
As a participant in Partners for Sacred Places’ Strategic
mentum among Middlebury’s downtown business owners
Investment in Sacred Places (SISP) program, funding was
and so did the efforts of St. Stephen’s. “We had representa-
provided by Partners for an assessment of St. Stephen’s his-
10 • SACRED PLACES • AUTUMN/WINTER 2017-18