The steeple as it looked on Thursday evening. It’s being prepared to be taken off for the building’s move.
On Tuesday or Wednesday (time is a blur when you’re trying to keep track of a one-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter), I heard from Emma Eaton about another milestone in the prospective move of Albany’s historic Cumberland Church.
She’s the head of the group that is working to turn the 129-year-old former church building into a community events center. Her news was that Gerding Builders, the contractor who has built many big Albany projects, was starting to get the steeple ready so that this coming Monday it can be taken off the building.
My bike ride Thursday night took me past the site, at Main Street and Santiam Road, and the result is what you see here.
As I understand it, the steeple will be taken to the future event center site a quarter mile up Santiam Road and across the railroad tracks, to be stored there until it can be renovated and remounted.
The site has been excavated and fenced.
The church building itself is scheduled to follow the steeple on Sept. 2. That will be the start of the long process of improving the site, restoring and expanding the building, and constructing a parking lot. (For the background, see previous stories here including this one.)
In the meantime, good luck moving the old church in one piece. Well, two pieces, actually, with the steeple going first. (hh)
On Thursday night, a fence surrounds the excavation where the church will be moved.
Ahem…as a card carrying member of the gender police it is my duty to inform you that, henceforth, you are ordered to use the neutral word “grandchild.”
And in referring to yourself, the neutral word is “grandy.”
I’ll let you off with warning this time, but in the future please avoid two-gender binary language. It’s for the common good.
No matter how sarcastic your post may be, it’s still disgusting. It is the product of our new lumpenacademe, and it’s high time for taxpayers to quit supporting it.
Gordon, you are welcome to police your grandkids and have them call you “grandy”. Would you police my grandsons then, who call me MeeMa?
Just an update on date of steeple removal. The railroad has a changed ‘possible’ date of September 16th.
Stay tuned, it will happen.
Thank you Emma for your hard work and devotion to saving and moving this piece of history!