Historic Church Building Demolished to Make Room for Fraternity House
Writer Laments Changing Campus Landscape
North Texas Daily, 10/01

Flattened earth crowns a sandstone embankment where one of Denton’s historic church buildings once stood.

Soon, construction will begin on yet another fraternity lodge on Greek Row. A structure once representing the fraternity of Christ will now be replaced with a lodging of a fraternity of college students on the corner of Maple and Welch streets. The sounds of hymn singing and preaching will be succeeded by profanity and stories of alcohol-related indulgence.

In light of the alleged Kappa Alpha incident last spring, accusations of sexual harassment with several fraternities, and concerns of binge drinking, many of our fraternities are beginning to teach etiquette to their members and to strictly enforce moral guidelines. I’m glad to see this commitment to strong values, which the Greek system stood for generations ago.

So what better place for a church than on Greek Row? How unfortunate that the one place spiritual instruction is now needed, that a church had to leave.

The old building was no Chartes Cathedral-- Its stained glass windows, once vibrant with color, stood amidst decaying wood beams and an ancient brick shell. The facility was small and could only seat about 100 people. Not to mention, the parking was terrible!

It was refreshing, however, to have some old-style, post-gothic architecture so close to our campus. There was a touch of class in its design that helped to offset the bland, box-shapes of Kerr Hall and the endless array of frame houses in the surrounding neighborhood.

The whole campus landscape is slowly changing. The Advancement Center (formerly a mansion-style residence) was razed to make room for the new Gateway Center. Smith Hall, a quaint, turn-of-the-century residence that housed KNTU for many years, was demolished this week. Some changes can be aesthetically pleasing-- the modular rust-bucket known as Quad 2 was torn down over the summer.

Some students walking to class find the older structures to be eyesores. Others appreciate them as historical landmarks and an integral part of our heritage.

In the case of the church building on Maple, I find it ironic that NT was busy building the Goolsby Chapel while an established and recognized religious structure was in their possession. While I appreciate Rep. Goolsby for donating the funds, I find the design to be (dare I sound too harsh) heartless. Perhaps it would have been more expensive to refurbish an existing sanctuary than it would be to construct a new chapel altogether.

For those of you who know nothing about the old church, it was originally built by Cumberland Presbyterian Church, known for their work with Cumberland Presbyterian Children’s home.

After the successful church outgrew the facility, my former congregation, the late University Methodist Church, met there for several years. I must admit a little bias in writing this column—some of my earlier memories of worship were had there (though I was more concerned with crawling under the pews and marking-up the church bulletins than I was with worship).

In 1989, New Creation Church and University Methodist swapped buildings. New Creation met there until recently.

When NT purchased the land, New Creation received enough money for the property to buy an apartment complex and a large house in the Owsley neighborhood west of campus (known affectionately as Cement City). The church is now in a strategic location to minister to the underprivileged.

Some good came out of the acquisition of the property. I can see how God may have used this to further his work. But there’s still a side of me that laments the passing of yet another well-known feature of our eclectic campus landscape.

In writing this, I hope I haven’t offended my Greek friends. My prayers are with the fraternity who will eventually inhabit the old church site. Just don’t loose sight of your Judeo-Christian heritage.

And to those on the building committee, I implore you to build a house worthy of a second look, and not just another 4-sided block of bricks that would contribute to the malaise of post-modern architecture.