LAMPASAS, Texas — The Lampasas community is working to save a small stone church after a wall caved in several weeks ago.
The Church, which would eventually be called Saint Paul's Independent Methodist Episcopal, was built in the 1940s. It's stone sides and wooden roof endured as a unique structure in the city. After the roof collected water a few weeks ago, however, the roof caved in and the wall collapsed.
Owner Garry Milligan told Channel 6 that the church had been in disrepair for a long time. He wanted to fix it but retired as a school teacher and was unable to do so. Even worse, he said he felt unable to keep a promise made to his mother.
"My mom, when she was ill and about to pass, she made me promise I would take care of the Church," Milligan said. "They was so proud of this church."
The community also cared about the church, and local Edith Wagner Harrison reached out to renovator Andrew Fish for help. Fish is almost done remodeling the Keystone Hotel in Lampasas and has experience restoring historical buildings. After Fish found out the church could be demolished, he got to work.
"When I found out about the roof falling in here, I reached out to the crews that I worked with on the hotel that are experts in stone, carpentry, and electrical," Fish said.
Fish brought out his stone contractor to see if the wall could be repaired as the contractor had done complex work on his previous project. Despite the appearance, mason Juan Vidal said the building could absolutely be restored.
"It's fixable, it can be brought back to life," Vidal told Channel 6. "It's just going to take a little time. All of these rocks are reusable. It just has to be cleaned up a little bit. I've been doing this for 25 years so to me, it's not very difficult."
While the building can be saved, Fish said the project would require help from a nonprofit or a historical foundation to take ownership of the property and give the project a direction. The group of locals he spoke with already had several ideas.
"The building itself could be a wedding chapel, and event place, it could be used to celebrate a baptism, or even a church reunion," Fish said. "These are all things that could generate money for the maintenance of the property."
Milligan said he would absolutely be willing to transfer ownership of the property to a nonprofit or historical foundation. After that, Fish told Channel 6, the new owners would need money, supplies, and volunteers to move the project forward.
Fish and Milligan are already trying to contact organizations that could possibly take responsibility for the property. Fish told Channel 6 the Lampasas community has also been ready to help according to posts on Facebook.
The first step, which Fish is already looking into, will be to make sure the roof does not fully collapse and the other walls stay up. Fish plans to do what he must to make that happen and secure the property, so a plan to save it can move forward, but would appreciate help with funding.
Fish can be reached on Facebook.
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