One of the components of the Sacred Spaces project is to look at our building and its relationship to the community.  Not only are we doing a self-assessment of the facilities and starting to work on some repair/improvement plans but we also hope to get professional help in advising us on the structures.  In preparation for seeking some historic preservation assistance, we contacted the state regarding the official historic status of Christ Church.  We were nominated as a significant building in a historic district to the national register in 1978.  This is an important part of seeking any historic renovation funding in the years ahead. 

The property description in the nomination is very interesting -- and taught me a few things I hadn't known:

Random ashlar, gabled roof sheathed in slate. This Gothic Revival church, built in 1868, from granite from Barre and Berlin, Vermont, was designed by Rutland architect, J.J.R. Randall and constructed by the local builder P. Trow. In 1903, the interior was destroyed by fire. A sympathetic parish house wing of granite was added to the left in 1938. The tower spire, left front corner, was removed in 1973 because of structural weakness. The tower itself remains and is of three stages; the first stage contains a single leaf door recessed in a pointed Gothic arch; the second stage contains two glazed and leaded Gothic arch windows; the third stage contains three Gothic arch louvered belfry windows and is surmounted by a crenelated parapet. The crenelations are not original but were added when the stone spire was removed. The tower is square and buttressed. At the center of the building is a double leaf door, also in a recessed Gothic arch, with rich moldings and paneling. Above this structure is a large rosette window in the gable peak. The peak of the roof is surmounted by a cross. To the right of this is a small corner tower with a steeply pitched polygonal stone roof. The church has Gothic massing with a clerestory roof.
 

We are meeting in a few weeks with someone from the Preservation Trust of Vermont to discuss next steps.