Our Meeting Place

The Bellevue Building

As mentioned on our History page, For many years, the church apparently met in a temporary facility, the Woman's Club building.  Then, in 1925, the church built its own permanent facility on Belleview Avenue, a building which is still standing and is being used by a Spanish-speaking, Iglesia Christiano (Christian Church).  For those who are interested in such things, that building is located several blocks South of 2nd street and 1 block West of Mountain Vernon, on Bellevue Avenue.

The Mountain View Building

In 1946 the church built its current facility, drawing from a design which had been used by a church in Orange County.  The "foreman" of that project was Wright Randolph, then local evangelist, who pressed every detail until the building was completed.  Although the building has served adequately, there were a number of mistakes made during construction, including putting all the windows in...backwards!  Of course, this was immediately post-WW2 and there were necessary compromises that had to be made in the light of the social and economic issues that were arising as men returned from the war and reentered the work force.

Although the Mountain View location has had a continuing battle against termites, vigilance and periodic treatment of that and other pest problems has kept the facility in reasonably good condition.  However, it is now over 60 years old and requires diligent attention to prevent further decline of condition.  Several of our deacons share divisions of responsibility for this care, in addition to their duties concerning worship, work and our teaching program.

At the right is a picture of the "new" church building, located at 1354 North Mountain View Avenue.  The building is still in use (but the trees--including the one in front of the car (Chevrolet?) are WAY bigger).  This picture is c. 1946, shortly after the building was opened.

Identities of the individuals in the photograph are being verified and will be posted, shortly.

Some Changes Since 1997

The Windows

In the picture below, the two large multi-paned windows at the right of the picture, are among those that were improperly installed. So, too, were the large arched windows over the glass brick windows. That problem was finally, and permanently resolved, in 1998 with installation of new dark (21% light transmission) Lexan™ windows and dark brown aluminum frames to match the building's exterior finish.  The large "windows" made of glass bricks were also removed and although many of those very valuable glass bricks were improperly removed and destroyed by the contractor, the problem was eventually noticed and the remaining glass bricks were salvaged from the dumping area and saved for use in another place. 

Carpeting

At about the same time as the windows were replaced, the somewhat mottled carpet treatment in the Main Auditorium--olive green under the theatre seats, with dull brown down the center and outer isles, an in the vestibule (seven colors/shades in the auditorium alone!)--was replaced with a quiet, gray-blue commercial carpet that extends throughout the first floor and into both floors of the Educational wing.

Minister's Study

Over the years, very few changes have taken place, but from 1997 to the present time, many alterations have been made to accommodate specific needs.  The Evangelist's Study has been moved from the small front office (the lower window on the right side, in the picture below), first to a large, very commodious room on the first floor made from joining two classrooms; And then into a slightly smaller office on the 2nd floor (also made from joining two, smaller classroms).  At present, the Evangelist's study includes 400 linear feet of heavy-duty shelving, enough to hold a very significant library of about 6000 volumes.  It's not that we are trying to eventually push him the preacher out to the roof, but the practical use of the space for the greater benefit of all, demands that the more accessible space be appropriated for such use, but without displacing the evangelist's ability to study and access his resources.

Small Auditorium

In 2005, the former first-floor Evangelist's Study was slightly enlarged into a smaller auditorium (with permanent pews to seat approximately 70-75 people) in order to accommodate larger class-style or smaller worship-environment gatherings.  The Small Auditorium, as we call it, is used on Sunday for teaching in the Spanish-language.  By removing one pew and extending a collapsible partition, the Small Auditorium could be divided into two classrooms, each seating approximately 35 people.

At the time the Small Auditorium was created, another classroom was created and outfitted with permanent pews (seating approximately 25-30).  This has given us a very flexible design that accommodates many different needs, in spite of the age of the facility (which in it's day, favored smaller classrooms, permanent walls, etc.).

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Last modified: March 12, 2006