The Old Church

A week ago, I did some work on a church building. This was an older building and it brought back some memories of the church building less than a block from where I grew up.

As I was working, I could hear the clanking of the steam pipes and radiators. It sounded like someone was in another part of the building with a hammer, banging on the pipes. The old building in cottonwood was much older than this building but I can still recall the old steam heat clanking and making a racket.

The old cottonwood building had a distinct personality. It had a long covered stairway to the foyer. This stairway had a steel banister in the middle which provided us with countless hours of entertainment sliding down it.

The foyer branched off to the left to the chapel, strait to the cultural hall which was that and more...It served as an overflow for the chapel and had a stage for cultural experiences...plays and such. If you went to the right from the foyer, there was a bishops and clerk's office and a couple of classrooms and some stairs that went to the lower level that had a primary room and class rooms that extended underneath all of the building.

Next to the bishops office was a small classroom that had a set of stairs that went to a small classroom kind of mid-way up the tower. From that class room there was also a steep set of stairs that went to an even smaller classroom at the top of the tower.

If you went through the cultural hall, there was a door that led to the stake offices. These offices occupied an area on the upper level and the lower level with a steep set of stairs connecting the two.

There was also a set of doors on the other side of the chapel. There was a small foyer that connected to the cultural hall and a set of stairs that led to a landing which took you outside...or to more stairs that went to the lower lever.

The lower level at this point had a drinking fountain. There, was also the restrooms and a sacrament prep. room. The hall jogged a little and met the hall and classrooms mentions above, and also had a hall that extended to classrooms underneath the chapel.

In all my growing up years, this unique old building still holds a place in my heart. I helped my dad wire the swamp coolers that were added to make the chapel more comfortable. (Before we had the coolers, they used to pass out the little fold up fans so we could fan ourselves, and then they would collect them at the end of the services)

Of course with the changing times, remodels and additions added a gym and other rooms. Then about forty years ago they demolished the old building but not the additions. They built an addition to the gym which included new classrooms and a new chapel and classrooms and offices all on one level.

These and countless other memories came to the forefront, just from hearing the sound of those steam pipes. Oh, the years are many and long...where have they gone.