Saint James Place:
Rebirthed, Restored, and Renewed
by Karen DiLossi
Director of Arts in Sacred Places, Partners for Sacred Places
O
nce the westernmost outpost
of the Episcopal Church in
America, and not long ago
very close to demolition, the
former St. James Episcopal Church in
downtown Great Barrington,
Massachusetts, has now found a new life
as Saint James Place, a Cultural Center
and Home for the Arts. The
1857-vintage building offers 17,000
square feet of renovated space that
breathes with artists, their audiences,
and the larger Berkshires community.
Exterior of Saint James Place after restoration
Photo: Christina Lane Photography
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SACRED PLACES • WINTER 2019
Great Barrington has seen its fair
share of hardship as industry jobs left,
compounded by the major recession a
decade ago, but its rebirth as a
culture-rich town has created an
opening for a new center for the arts.
Nestled on a prominent corner of Main
Street, “the gateway to Great
Barrington,” Saint James Place (SJP) has
become a landmark of the Western
Massachusetts cultural community.
St. James Parish was established in
1762 and the current building was its
third home. The building is faced with
locally quarried dolomite limestone and
its pointed arches are filled with
beautifully crafted stained glass. In
1911, a parish house was added,
complementing the original building
with half timbered walls, dormers, and
late Gothic windows. The building’s
history continues to resonate today. For
example, its parishioners supported
Union soldiers with Bibles and banners
as they departed to fight in the Civil
War. During the 1918 influenza
epidemic it became a hospital. This fall,