A community’s center is rebuilt

INDUSTRY – A pastor who grew up here has returned with an army of volunteers to renovate an old, vacant church into an active center for the community.

As big, puffy clouds floated by overhead today, 25 Presbyterians were hard at work scraping, painting, installing flooring and more to give the West Mills Community Church an extreme makeover. Once completed, the center will be known as The Sparrows Nest.

Sitting near the second bent elbow of Route 148’s arm, the 34-year-old church has been an empty reminder of what was once a center of community activity. Once an active church, the building also served as a place for  youth and adult choir rehearsals, summer day camps and a place for meetings.

Nate Phillips grew up two doors down from the church. He remembers fondly the programs held at the church, including singing in the choir. “When we had that, young people were excited about it,” he said.

Phillips left Industry’s West Mills eight or nine years ago and is now the pastor at the Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church of Wilmington, Delaware. He began returning to Maine five years ago with 50 or so volunteers to work a week in the summer with the East Parrish Housing Ministries.

When the group was working in the area last year, a young volunteer asked Phillips of the West Mills Church, “why don’t we fix this place up?” Others liked the idea right away.”We said why don’t we try for it? Let’s see if it’s possible,” Phillips remembered. He contacted the United in Christ Presbyterian Church in Starks and the Mission at the Eastward to talk about the project idea. Given the green light, the plans and fund raising, including a popular 5K race, bake sales, and more, towards renovating the little church building into a community center in rural Maine continued in Delaware over the last year. In addition to the fund raising for materials, each volunteer pays his or her share for the cost of the trip north.

The renovations needed to bring the building back into active use have been substantial. A serious mold issue in the basement necessitated professional abatement. The mold found also pointed to the problem of poor drainage around the building, which needed to be fixed before anything else was attempted.

With the mold removed, volunteers, ranging in ages teen through adult, completely gutted the basement. The building’s electrical work was redone and walls went up for rooms and a new bathroom downstairs, said volunteer Paul Bazzoli. Meanwhile upstairs, the pulpit is getting extended by eight feet to double the size for a new stage area. Wood flooring squares are being installed, as more volunteers scrape and paint parts of the interior. Outside, the white church is getting a coat of bright yellow paint. New steps sweep up to the front doors.

The experience for all the volunteers reaches beyond fixing up a building, Phillips said. The crew, working hard for a week “has grown together,” he said.

Once the major renovations are completed this week, local resident-artists, Tina Fellman, Johnny James and Diane Leeman are interested in reigniting the youth and adult choir, and opening classes in the visual and performing arts and play productions. All this is now part of the center’s future plans, Fellman said.

The public is invited to celebrate the project’s renovations and the opening of The Sparrows Nest on Friday, July 15. The West Mills Community Day events include, from 3 to 5 p.m. kids’ activities, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. a potluck dinner and from 7 to 8:30 p.m. a talent show/open mic will be held on the new stage. Fellman predicted the event will be an emotionally uplifting one for many.

“We used to celebrate worship, be a community here. But once we lost the church, the community lost its heart,” she said. This project will bring back its heart.”