Volunteers needed to transform old church into community center

McDONOUGH – A lot of people promised to help turn the old Calvary Episcopal Church into a community center and library, says Eleanor Troicke, president of the McDonough Improvement Committee.

“Hopefully, some of them will come through,” she said.

Volunteers are needed Saturday to paint the inside of the building, located on county Rte. 7 in the hamlet. Work is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Those interested can contact Troicke for more information.

The committee is converting the 123-year-old structure into a 2,000 book library and performing arts facility. It was decommissioned as a church by the Episcopal Diocese of Syracuse nearly two years ago.



“One, we’re trying to retain the building for the community,” said Troicke, who said the former church is on the National Historic Registry. “Two, we’re trying to provide a service to our community.”

The center is planned to be an official branch of the Oxford Memorial Library and a member of the Four County Library System.

“By having a branch in McDonough, this will really expand our outreach,” said Nancy Wilcox, director of the Oxford Memorial Library, adding that it will benefit residents in more remote areas who may not have access to services in Oxford. “It’s going to be a great deal handier for there to be a McDonough library.”

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Reader Response

1 comments on this story

JCP
February 9th, 2008 at 10:52 am
I knew they were getting together on Feb. 2nd, but not this Saturday, Feb. 9th. By the way "Eleanor" spells her name quite uniquely: Elinor. (There's no way you could have guessed.)
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