If anybody wants to move and preserve Albany’s former Cumberland Presbyterian Church, better speak up now and have a plan to come up with the money to do so. The city of Albany isn’t going to do it because four council members, a majority, are opposed.
Three members of the Albany City Council say they don’t want tax money spent on moving the former Cumberland Presbyterian Church and restoring it as a community center. That leaves the fate of this project up in the air or, more to the point, up to potential donors.
Albany Mayor Sharon Konopa has an idea for the historic Cumberland Presbyterian Church: Move it away from the corner of Santiam Road and Main Street, where it was built in 1892.
Passing by the former Cumberland Presbyterian Church the other day, I wondered if there had been any progress on finding someone to take the old place off the Albany city government’s hands. The answer is no, not much has happened since the city council last dealt with the issue four months ago.
It’s a good thing Albany did not buy the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at 401 Main Street as an investment. The city purchased the property for $150,000 in 2000 for a street project, declared it surplus last year, and now may give it away to be restored as a faith-based counseling center.
This may be the year someone rescues the old church at Albany’s Main Street and Santiam Road before it falls down. Two parties have submitted proposals to acquire the city-owned property at 401 S.E. Main and do something with it, and the city staff is analyzing the offers.
Old church: Its fate still not settled
You may be tired of reading about the former Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Tough. You’ll have to put up with it for a while longer because the Albany City Council still has not made a decision on what to do with the decaying building at Santiam Road and Main.
Tags: Baldwin construction company, Cumberland Presbyterian Church