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Renovated Church Will House a Performance Hall, Gallery and More

Historic Church Building in Mt. Sterling

With plenty of support from the community, Montgomery County Council of the Arts is renovating a historic church building in downtown Mt. Sterling.

Much of the community knows it as the historic First United Methodist Church building‚ built in 1885. But soon the downtown church‚ complete with restored stained-glass windows and a performance hall instead of a sanctuary‚ will serve another purpose – as home of the Gateway Regional Center for the Arts.

The center will house the Montgomery County Council of the Arts.

With help from the city and county governments‚ the council bought the church in 2004 and is in the midst of a capital campaign to raise money to pay for renovation of the 12‚000-square-foot building. The group has raised $860‚000 in donations‚ pledges and grants‚ and it needs at least $500‚000 more to complete the project.

“We want to provide programming and reach communities contiguous to Montgomery County‚” says Cay Lane‚ the council’s executive director.

Opportunities will exist in all the arts – visual arts‚ theater‚ dance‚ music and literary ventures. The council’s Gallery for the Arts will be expanding into an area double the size of the current location in a storefront on Main Street. And there will be a larger art shop that will showcase and sell many works by local artists.

The Sterling Players Theatre Group will finally have a permanent home in the sanctuary-turned-performance hall.

“The performing arts will have a centralized location but will still use some other venues in the community‚” Lane says.

Part of the church’s upstairs will house rehearsal rooms and an art resource library. The center‚ which will be accessible to those with disabilities‚ also will be able to add more children’s programs and art classes.

“The community has been very recep­tive‚” Lane says. “The city and county governments understand the need for arts and cultural opportunities.”

Story by Nancy Humphrey
Photo by Greg Emens

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