Artists group eyes move to church, prays they can raise the money
Unable to host winter meetings in their own building due to an inadequate heating system, members of the Old Town Arts and Crafts Guild have been gathering this season in a small downstairs room at Cutchogue-New Suffolk Library.
The nonprofit’s weekly “Wednesday workshops” are typically attended by a dozen members and usually focus on ideas for future events or design concepts for fliers and brochures.
But last week’s conversation took on a much larger idea: putting money together, somehow, to purchase the North Fork United Methodist Church building (formerly the Cutchogue United Methodist Church).
After the meeting, guild president Bob Kuhne explained that the group’s current building is not only outdated, but cramped.
“Due to the lack of upgraded utilities and necessary renovations, we can remain open for only eight months a year,” Mr. Kuhne said. “We would love to be able to expand into a more appropriate building, such as the Methodist church.”
Anticipating a need to protect historic churches while keeping them commercially viable, the Southold Town Board has been considering legislation that would allow purchasers to apply for special exceptions in the code that allow new town-approved adaptive reuses for former church buildings.
One acceptable use would be to house community organizations like the guild.
Founded 67 years ago, the Old Town Arts and Crafts Guild occupies a red-shingled building on Main Road in Cutchogue, across from the Capital One Bank branch. Its gallery and gift shop are open from May through late December and are used to showcase and sell pottery, photography, paintings and other crafts created by guild members. Those sales help sustain the organization, Mr. Kuhne said.
During his 15 years as president, Mr. Kuhne said, the guild has initiated several successful programs and events, but with that growth has come the downside that the group’s facility hasn’t grown to accommodate its more than 50 members.
For example, patrons might be perusing goods in the shop while a children’s program is in progress in the same space.
“It is disruptive in a lot of ways,” Mr. Kuhne said. “People come in and they see the painting and running all around the place and it makes them hesitant to walk around.
“We have to expand one way or another.”
After learning about a month ago that the Methodist church building on Main Road in Cutchogue was on the market, Mr. Kuhne said he immediately thought the historic building would be an ideal space for the guild’s current activities, as well as a place to expand its programs.
“The main part of the church would be perfect for the gallery and the altar is already set up like a stage, which would allow us to do performing arts,” he said. “It would only take minor renovations to the interior.”
Unlike the guild’s current gallery, the church is also handicapped accessible, has downstairs classrooms and plenty of space outdoors to host art shows in the summer.
Sue Purcell of Southold, a guild member for more than 30 years, said the organization wouldn’t just survive, but would thrive in a larger space.
“We would love to do more arts and crafts for kids, but it’s hard to get much done in our limited space,” she said. “It would be exciting to be in [the church building] where those things can be done year-round.”
The all-volunteer nonprofit was founded in 1948 and originally settled in a rented home next to Capital One Bank, not too far from its current location. A year later, after raising several thousand dollars from members, the guild was able to move into a new, larger building. About 30 years ago, member donations once again helped out and the guild was able to pay for an addition to that space, which houses its gallery today.
But buying the Methodist church will require more than member contributions, Mr. Kuhne said.
To accomplish that goal, Mr. Kuhne estimates the organization would need to raise $300,000 and also apply the profit from the sale of its current building.
Should it be able to make the purchase, Mr. Kuhne said the group would lease space within the church to outside organizations for art-related activities in order to generate revenue for the ongoing upkeep and preservation of the building.
The group will start by organizing fundraisers and looking into possible grant opportunities, though Mr. Kuhne admits raising enough cash to acquire the church could take “quiet a while.”
“Community support is essential,” Mr. Kuhne said.
As the Old Town Arts and Crafts Guild seeks to grow, the local North Fork United Methodist Church congregation is looking to downsize.
As part of an ongoing plan to consolidate the Methodists from Southold and Cutchogue — and generate enough money to build a new church elsewhere in Southold Town for the combined congregation — the parish listed the property for $990,000 in November.
Mr. Kuhne said he had spoken to the realtor handling the church property last month.
“The problem is they want $1 million for the property — and I am not saying it isn’t worth it, but we don’t have that money right now and I am not sure if they are willing to wait for us,” Mr. Kuhne said. “They are dealing in dollars and cents. They are looking to benefit their organization, too. I get that.”
To date, no official offer has been made on the Cutchogue church, built around 1928, said North Fork United Methodist Church Pastor Tom MacLeod.
“I am not going to refuse any offer,” he said. “I don’t want to make it seem as though I would not wait, but at the same time it is a real estate market.”
Repurposing vacant church buildings has become a trend across not only in New York State, but across the country. Wineries, breweries, offices, homes and cultural centers have all taken over former places of worship.
In upstate Troy, for example, a similar nonprofit artists’ group moved its studio into an abandoned church. In that case, the Contemporary Artist Center organization was able to purchase a long-vacant Presbyterian church outright for $200,000 in 2009. But to do so, its members needed to rally financial support from the community to cover the cost of renovating the 1868 building, said executive director Hezzie Johanson.
Through outreach, she said, the Contemporary Artist Center succeeded in reaching local residents who cared both about the arts and about preserving the church building, and convincing them to donate to the cause.
Ms. Johanson also said her group would often enter online contests for corporate grant money, a few of which they won.
The Contemporary Artist Center was able to move into its church space about a year after purchasing the property and expects renovations to finally be completed this year.
“[The building] needed about $1 million worth of work, which we have been raising for the past five years,” she said. “It has taken sometime but we are 99 percent done.”
Seeing other nonprofit organizations receive significant support from backers is encouraging for Mr. Kuhne, who has pointed to the financial assistance of Peconic Land Trust, which enabled the New Suffolk Waterfront Fund to buy its First Street property, as an example of nonprofits working together.
“If a benefactor donated $1 million that would move things along,” he said. “If donations come in a few hundred at a time, it could take a while.”
In the meantime, guild members are content to gather at Cutchogue New Suffolk Library, itself a converted church building.
“Churches that are up for sale now are perfect for community activities,” Mr. Kuhne said. “That is what they were designed for, as a place where people can gather.”