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| Community Center Update I've reprinted 3 articles from the Middletown Press about the Community Center demolition. 08/31/2007 - New!!
Church sexton discovers time capsule during demolition of former convent
By: JAMES TINLEY , Press staff
MIDDLETOWN - The demolition of a former convent provided a window into the building's past when a time capsule that was sealed inside of the building's cornerstone was discovered Wednesday.
The time capsule, a small copper box stuffed full of artifacts from the turn of the century, was trapped under tons of brick and mortar since 1905 where it sat untouched and not known about until what is currently known as St. John Church Community Center was reduced to a pile of rubble. Inside the copper time capsule were several coins and medals from the time, a copy of three newspapers, the names of about 40 nuns who lived in the convent at the time, a postcard of St. John Church and a letter written in Latin that named President Theodore Roosevelt and Pope Pius X, along with other church and government officials.
"I didn't know that the box existed, but I had an idea that there would be something like this and I was looking out for it," said
Michael Keleher, church sexton who has helped oversee the demolition of the community center.
The box was sealed in a hole that was chiseled into the top of the brownstone, cornerstone, and capped with a piece of marble.
When Keleher brushed off the top of the cornerstone he said he noticed the marble cap and immediately realized there was
something inside. After extricating the box from the brownstone, he managed to open the copper time capsule with a pair of pliers.
Finding a time capsule like this helps connect the church to it's past, said the Rev. Gregory Mullaney, who spent over a year of residence at St. John Church and is now temporary administrator of St. Colman Church in Middlefield. "Having something like this helps to give you a sense that these were real people," Mullaney said. "In this case we don't have their faces, but we have their names and that is powerful."
"With their names and these items we know a little bit about their lives and who these people were and that helps bring the history alive."
"As Catholics, we cherish the fact that we inherit our faith from those who went before us and getting a sense of who these people were
is an important thing," he added.
The lead stories contained in the editions of the Penny Press (now the Middletown Press) and the now defunct Middletown Tribune that
were found in the time capsule told of a tornado that ripped through Oklahoma in May 1905 that killed 92 people. There was also a copy of the Catholic Transcript from April 1905.
St. John Church is the oldest church in Middletown and the Norwich Diocese and was founded in 1843. The time capsule was found
in the cornerstone of the chapel of St. John Community Center. The chapel was an addition added in 1905 to what was then a convent that was erected in 1887. The cost of maintaining the old building, which as fallen into disrepair, prompted the demolition. A new community center is planned to be constructed near the site of the old one.
Keleher said he was unsure if a time capsule will be sealed into the new community center, but did say similar items to those found
in the box from 1905 would likely be selected.
To contact James Tinley, call him at (860) 347-3331, ext. 211, or e-mail him at jtinley@middletownpress.com.
Middletown Press 06/27/2007
Church to demolish historic community center
By: James Tinley , Press Staff
The St. John Community Center, shown here on Tuesday, will be demolished in the near future. Brad M. Horrigan/The Middletown Press (Buy Middletown Photos)
MIDDLETOWN - At different points in its almost 125 years of existence, St. John Community Center served as a place of worship, a convent, a classroom and a community center. This city monument, rich with history and architectural beauty, will be torn down this summer.
That, however, does not mean the years of history that go along with the St. John Community Center have to come crashing down and be reduced to rubble with the building's bricks. In a plan to preserve as much of the structure as they can, the church is carefully removing any ornamentation that can be used in the new structure or by other churches.
Massive stained-glass windows, along with large windows with wavy hand-blown glass, doors, bathtubs, sinks and even toilets will all be saved from the junkyard and find used either in a church or homes throughout the country. The mission of recycling as much as possible from the community center also includes the lofty goal of removing the entire cupola, keeping it intact to donate to another church.
A crane with a cradle will be brought in Thursday morning to take the entire roof off the community center. Under the cupola also sits a large brass bell that will be preserved and donated to another church.
St. John Church, through preserving actual architectural and ornamental elements from the old structure, seeks to literally and figuratively capture the history and spirit of the old building in the new community center that will be built on the same site. By reinserting aspects of the old community center into the new, the church is attempting to hold onto the roots of the past while building a structure that will meet the new needs of the congregation, said Tom Furtado, a building committee member. The church will reuse all the stained glass windows, plaster figures of angels and the chapel doors.
Things the church cannot put to use will be donated to other congregations that have an interest in them. Anything else will make its way to Irreplaceable Artifacts on Main Street, the company that is in charge of carefully removing aspects of the church that can be saved.
This process of reclaiming and reusing elements of a house that typically would end up in a landfill is picking up steam as people become more conscious of the importance of recycling, said Evan Blum, the owner/operator of Irreplaceable Artifacts and Demolition Depot. "The more press we get with the green aspect of what we are doing, the more people become sympathetic to our mission," Blum said. "Preservation is a household word now."
"Although everything we saved 35 years ago is now being recreated with dubious materials, some people want the real thing. The way of the future is to save as much as you can, otherwise it gets lost and fills up a landfill." Blum, whose business is based in New York City, set up a shop in Middletown for more storage space. Quickly people became interested in the treasures he salvaged from buildings and he opened what is now Irreplaceable Artifacts.
St. John Community Center was built in 1883 and the last major renovation came in 1932. The building is now in disrepair and has some structural damage, Furtado said. A building committee for the church decided it was not economically feasible to preserve the building and decided to demolish it. They plan to put a more modern two-story building in its place that will, they feel, better serve the church community.
To contact James Tinley, call him at (860) 347-3331, ext. 211, or email him at jtinley@middletownpress.com.
Middletown Press 07/10/2007
Sister has mixed emotions about building's demolition
By: JAMES TINLEY , Press staff
MIDDLETOWN - From the time Sister Ancillita Lengyel was a little girl, all she wanted to do was become a Sister of Mercy. Lengyel, now 91, had an aunt who was a Sister of Mercy. She spent a lot of time around the sisters and knew that was what she wanted to be when she got older.
"I've always loved the Sisters of Mercy, and from when I was a child I never wanted anything else, and I never regretted doing it," she said. "If I could do it all over again, I would." As a Sister of Mercy, she lived in a convent - now the St. John Community Center. Demolition has already begun on the nearly 125-year-old brick building, and the community center is slated to be completely torn down later this summer. "I have mixed emotions about it," Lengyel said. "I love that building - every brick of it. It was almost sacrilegious to see it go downhill and fall into disrepair the way it did. But on the other hand, the new community center that will replace it will be another step forward into the future."
A community center that will better suit the needs of the parish will be built on the same site, said Tom Furtado, a building committee member.
Lengyel lived in the building from 1941 to 1943, when it was a convent, with 24 other sisters. The convent was a quiet and reverent place, full of happiness and peace, Lengyel said. While she lived in the convent, she taught at St. John School and prepared lessons inside the building. She eventually became principal of that school, retiring from that post in 1986.
Lengyel fondly remembers music lessons being taught in that building and how it served as a meeting place for parish parties and receptions.
While the building is being torn down, the parish won't have to rely solely on Lengyel's recollections to remember the St. John Community center.
Much of the ornamentation, including stained-glass windows, was saved from the trash heap by the church in an effort to recycle building materials and preserve the history of the church. One of the massive stained glass windows served as inspiration for Lengyel for the three years she lived in the building. It was saved and will be installed in the chapel of St. John Church, at the north end of Main Street. "I makes me feel great that some of the building is being saved," she said. "One of the stained-glass windows will go in the chapel of St. John Church. I go there each morning for Mass, and it will be inspirational to see it." To contact James Tinley, call him at (860) 347-3331, ext. 211, or e-mail him at jtinley@middletownpress.com. ©The Middletown Press 2007 Photos of the progress:
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