and more modern space. It was discovered that the land under the
church was contaminated by an adjacent, defunct gas power plant,
posing serious health risks that were not readily addressed. Being
forced to move only endeared the congregation to the old building
even more, and in its new home the congregation refused to forget
its original home. For years Mason brought groups of members,
clergy and CME bishops to visit the site and pray together—on be-
half of the congregation and its historic home.
By 2015, Augusta was increasingly committed to stewarding its
historic places, exemplified by the work of the Augusta Canal Na-
tional Heritage Area (NHA). Like other NHAs across the country,
the Augusta group encourages the preservation of a collection of
National Park Service, National Historic Landmark, and other re-
lated historic sites and landscapes, which form a network of institu-
tions that work cooperatively with shared purpose and thematic
unity. Thus, when Atlanta Light Gas Co., a regional utility com-
pany, bought the church and intended to raze it to pursue environ-
mental remediation, Augusta Canal NHA and Rev. Mason took ac-
tion. Many other African American historic sites had been lost in
Augusta, and they were determined not to lose Mother Trinity. Staff
from the Augusta Canal NHA—Dayton Sherrouse and Rebecca
Rogers—initiated a “Save Mother Trinity” campaign to capture the
attention of local media and civic leaders across the city.
Next, the Augusta Canal NHA took advantage of an opportu-
nity offered through the National Heritage Areas Development
Partnership, supported by funding from the National Park Service,
that makes Partners’ services available to encourage preservation of
sacred places. Local leaders hoped that Partners’ community en-
gagement work and asset-mapping program could develop practical
plans for saving this landmark building and reusing it as a commu-
nity asset.
(continued on page 14)
Mother Trinity on the move
National Heritage Area Work
Mother Trinity CME’s salvation was encouraged
by a unique collaboration between Partners and the
National Heritage Area Development Partnership
with support from the National Park Service. Since
2014, Partners’ services have been supported by a
series of grants that have helped National Heritage
Areas preserve important but challenged historic
sacred places. In the case of Baltimore, Partners
worked with the NHA to lead a town hall for con-
gregations and artists, but most of the other pro-
jects have included community asset-mapping and
design charrette work. (Charrettes are community-
based design events that convene a team of archi-
tects and designers to develop initial architectural
concepts and visual documents that illustrate the
potential for reuse and restoration.)
Other projects have included:
• The Blue Church, Wheeling, WV with the
Wheeling NHA
• St. John’s Episcopal Church, Tuscumbia, AL
with the Muscle Shoals NHA
• Clinton Church AME in Great Barrington, MA
with the Upper Housatonic NHA
• Historic Ely Stake Tabernacle in Ely, NV with
the Great Basin NHA
Upcoming projects underway include:
• First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, IL
with Lincoln NHA
• St. Thomas Indian Mission in Yuma, AZ with
Yuma Crossing NHA
These NHA-Partners collaborations have led to
remarkable successes in preserving historic sacred
places as community assets. In Great Barrington,
Massachusetts, Partners worked with a local advo-
cacy nonprofit, Clinton Church Restoration (CCR), to
build on earlier community planning work for the
future of Clinton AME, a church with strong connec-
tions to W.E.B. DuBois and the local NAACP Chapter.
Following the NHA-Partners project, CCR was able
to win $100,000 in Community Preservation Act
funding from the town of Great Barrington, and a
highly competitive award of $389,000 from the Na-
tional Park Service’s African American Civil Rights
Program. In rural Ely, Nevada, the community has
been able to reorganize its efforts around a strong
vision and new plan for the reuse of the former Ely
Stake Tabernacle as a center for arts and culture;
this project will tap into the many visitors who come
annually to the scenic Great Basin National Park.
SACRED PLACES • AUTUMN/WINTER 2018-19
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