BANGOR — The Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor attracted a crowd of onlookers on May 3 when church members took shovels in hand and broke ground for the addition of an elevator and two accessible bathrooms in the historic downtown Bangor church at 120 Park St.
The church originally was dedicated in 1852, then rebuilt after its destruction in the 1911 Bangor fire. In the 1920s, the Dorothy Memorial building was added and has served as classrooms for the religious education program and the church’s function hall. The addition of the elevator and its two accompanying accessible bathrooms is the first major renovation in the last 90 years.
Bowman Construction was selected during a bid process and will be work from May through the summer to complete the project, with an anticipated completion date in September.
For more than a decade the church has supported an accessibility project that would make its sacred spaces more welcoming to people with mobility issues, according to church officials. Architect John Gordon, who specializes in accessibility projects, was hired to design and oversee the project.
The addition will include a full size elevator and two handicapped accessible bathrooms, one on each level. The cost of the improvement is expected to be $260,000. Much of the funding comes from the sale of property that was bequeathed to the church from the estate of Raymond Newell, a former church member who had, some years ago, moved to North Carolina. The congregation also conducted a capital campaign and raised $70,000, with the remaining funds provided through a matching grant from the church’s general endowment trust.
The accessibility project will continue into the future as money is raised for new access ramps, and an expanded parking area with handicapped parking availability.
“Our accessibility committee has been working for 10 years to develop the resources for this basic need. Our church members as well as the programs that use our church have needed this project for decades. Now we can finally move into an era of greater accessibility for people faced with mobility and physical limitations. It has long been recognized that many of our congregation, and the community as a whole, find those services they need the most for their spiritual well being, to be outside of their ability to reach, enter or move about within. This accessibility project is not our first, and it won’t be our last, but it is a major step forward and we are thankful that it is now begun,” said accessibility committee member Tom Bickford.