A postcard of Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church in Wellfleet, top, and below, one of the restored wood-carved panels adorning the church doors.
Over the last four decades, good fortune has not blessed Main Street in Wellfleet. First, a disastrous fire in 1976 destroyed several businesses. Then, the post office moved out to Route 6 in 1988, taking away much of the downtown's daily foot traffic. The local newsdealer and pharmacy soon followed suit, leaving a once-vibrant community rather bleak.
Eight years ago, the town bought the historic 1912 Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church with its impressive, Byzantine-inspired, hand-carved doors, but it was another five years before a grassroots group of artists, business leaders, and philanthropists finally took action to save the building. Their plan: restore the building and create Wellfleet Preservation Hall, a much-needed community cultural center in downtown Wellfleet.
"It was basically a do-or-die situation," says Wellfleet resident Marla Rice, a local art-gallery owner and president of the nonprofit Members of Wellfleet Preservation Hall, Inc. "The town was either going to tear the building down, or sell it to a developer. It would have changed the complexion of Wellfleet forever." Wellfleet artist Ellen LeBow recalls saying, "Instead of whining, let's do something!"
In response, LeBow, Rice, and other Wellfleetians from all walks of life have joined forces to save the historic building and, they hope, invigorate the heart of their community.
Wellfleet Preservation Hall has raised $1.25 million of its $2.2 million capital campaign. Work on the building began this spring. Architects James Hadley and Patricia Crow of Hadley Crow Studio in Orleans were selected to oversee the project, based on their expertise in historic restoration and landscape design. "They just seemed so well matched to the job and our goals," says Preservation Hall Vice President Anne Suggs.
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The church's history mirrors its current transformation. Our Lady of Lourdes was built in 1912, largely by its parishioners. "That's pretty cool because we're trying to do the same thing," says Rice. The building still contains its beautiful pressed-tin ceilings, rich wood floors and paneling, the original stage in the lower-level hall, and stained-glass windows dedicated by past members. The famous doors, created by itinerant artist Johnathan Kendall in the summer of 1976 are intact. However, the roof and the heating and plumbing systems need updating. The building also needs an elevator, and must be made handicapped accessible.
The rectory has recently been demolished, but the sanctuary and parish hall will remain as the heart of the cultural center. Rice says, "We'll leave the look and feel relatively intact, but it will be a true restoration. We have to take everything apart and put it back together again." Upon completion of the project next summer, Preservation Hall organizers envision space for performances, exhibits, and town forums.
Art will infuse the building inside and out. A sculpted heron made out of weathered steel by Truro artist Del Filardi, former owner of the Blue Heron Gallery in Wellfleet, will crown the restored structure. Filardi says she was inspired by the majestic bird years ago when she and her partner, Harriet Rubin, who donated the sculpture, started their gallery. "It's so wonderful for me to have a heron up on the cupola because that's how it all began," she says.
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However, it is the massive front doors that are the building's most visible and best-known work of art. Perhaps more than any other element of the structure, the bold, brightly colored religious figures on both sides of each door have attracted the attention of passersby for decades. Board member Simone Reagor says that the committee recognized right away that the doors, while damaged and faded, should be restored. "Two Wellfleet artists and committee members, Jean Nelson and Brailsford Nixon, volunteered to work on them," says Simone. "They spent over 400 hours cleaning and then carefully repainting and regluing the doors. It is amazing what they have done. We call them our honorary angels."
Several other people in the community have displayed a similar devotion to preserving the doors, which have 16 different panels featuring three-dimensional iconic figures that capture episodes in the life of the Virgin Mary and the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Committee member Mark Gabriele became fascinated by the story of the door's creator, Kendall, an Ipswich, Mass., native and itinerant artist who traveled around the country from 1960 to the 1990s. The artist, who claimed that he was a descendent of Boston's famed Cabot family, "arrived one summer and asked if he could pitch a tent behind the rectory," says Simone Reagor. "In exchange, he said, he would carve and paint the front doors." Kendall reportedly drew inspiration for his Byzantine Revival style from trips taken as a young man through the churches and cathedrals of Europe.
According to Town Historian and former parishoner of Our Lady of Lourdes Helen Purcell, Father Jude Morgan hoped to spruce up the building as part of a town-wide effort during America's 1976 bicentennial celebrations. When the doors were done, Kendall and his helper moved on, although Kendall returned to the Cape several times in the early 1980s, selling his work at Tree's Place in Orleans. Through Internet searches, Mark Gabriele discovered that Kendall created similar works of art around the country for churches, monasteries, and hotels.
Wellfleet Preservation Hall's momentum stems from the right mix of artistic energy and support by town officials, business owners, summer and year-round residents--anyone with a stake in the town's future. Retired bank executive and member of the Wellfleet Finance Committee Berta Bruinooge serves as the organization's treasurer. "The idea of turning this into something that will be really useful was an 'Aha!' moment," Bruinooge says. "Both year-round and nonresident taxpayers wanted Wellfleet center to stay looking like Wellfleet center."
Behind the building is a small park, a nice setting for weddings or garden parties. On July and August evenings, families sit on lawn blankets to view movies projected on the back stucco wall of the church. This summer, several fundraisers will be held, including an IBIS Chamber Music Society concert at the Wellfleet Congregational Church on July 18, and a "Gaming Under the Stars" Las Vegas-style night on August 13 in the Preservation Hall garden. Check www.wellfleetpreservationhall.org for upcoming events.
Getting to the project's goal requires commitment from many sources. To that end, the organizers have cultivated support with a community spirit emblematic of the whole cultural center concept. The town contributed $500,000 from Community Preservation Act funds, and the rest has been raised from donors and special events, including art auctions, house parties, and benefit performances.
"I've never been involved in anything where 'yes' has been the answer so many times," says Marla Rice. "It was kind of like a dream--and then it just happened."
Susan Spencer is a freelance writer and photographer who lives in Whitinsville and Brewster, Mass. Cape Cod Life Managing Editor Susan Dewey contributed to this story.
