As Greenstone Church completes bell tower stabilization, congregation turns to preserving the building

“We’re doing work that’s 100 years of deferred maintenance,” said the church’s pastor, Rev. Luther Mason.

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Webbing placed on the tower to prevent further pieces of stone from falling below at Greenstone Church at 11211 S St. Lawrence St. in Pullman, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Webbing was placed on the bell tower at Greenstone Church in the Pullman community to prevent stone pieces from falling below.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Rev. Luther Mason once kept a piece of the green stone that holds together the Greenstone United Methodist Church with him during church service.

But one day, the stone — a type of limestone from Pennsylvania — fell apart.

“I picked it up and it was fine, but as soon as I walked out the door it crumbled on me,” Mason said.

The deterioration is why the church began a $157,000 construction project last week to stabilize its bell tower and replace its roof. The bell tower stabilization was completed Tuesday, with the roof construction slated to begin next week.

However, that is only the first phase in a campaign to completely restore the over 130-year-old building’s exterior and interior over the next seven years, said Mason, the church’s pastor. The church hopes to raise money for the project.

For this first phase, the church received funding through various grants, organizations and even its small congregation, which Mason said is officially around 50 people.

Groups providing funding and technical assistance for the bell tower and roof construction included national nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation, local historic preservation nonprofit Landmarks Illinois, the National Parks Conservation Association, the National Park Service, Historic Pullman Foundation and the Pullman Civic Organization.

Rev. Luther Mason, pastor of Greenstone Church  at 11211 S St. Lawrence St. in the Pullman community, said the church hopes to fundraise in order to completely restore the historic church.

Rev. Luther Mason, pastor of Greenstone Church at 11211 S St. Lawrence St. in the Pullman community, said the church hopes to fundraise in order to completely restore the historic church.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Mason said the purpose of the construction was not only for safety reasons, but also because of water leakage from the roof and through the porous stones.

Pieces of stone had also begun to come loose on the bell tower and were close to falling off, Mason said. The work on the bell tower included removing those stones, applying epoxy to areas and installing nets to catch any falling stones.

“We’re doing work that’s 100 years of deferred maintenance,” Mason said. “Probably 80-90% of the church, the stone is worn.”

Tiffany Tolbert, senior field officer at the National Trust for Historic Prevention, said one of the reasons the organization provided funding for the initial Greenstone Church construction — a $145,000 grant — was because of its previous relationship with the Pullman Historic District.

In 2014, the organization announced a campaign to make the Pullman community as a national monument. In February 2015, it was officially designated as one.

“This is a continuation of our work of supporting projects in Pullman,” Tolbert said.

The church, built by George Pullman, was a cornerstone that once provided support for workers during the Pullman strike in 1894, according to Mason. The pastor at the time, Rev. William H. Carwardine, preached against the Pullman Company, which cut workers’ wages.

Tolbert said that since the church has been a landmark in the community, she hopes the funding the National Trust has provided will give the congregation additional time to work out a long-term strategy to rehabilitate the building.

“It’s really a small part of the overall needs of the church, but we feel it will be beneficial in the long run to give them that time,” Tolbert said.

Webbing placed on the tower to prevent further pieces of stone from falling below at Greenstone Church at 11211 S St. Lawrence St. in Pullman, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Webbing placed on the tower helps to prevent further pieces of stone from falling below at Greenstone Church in Pullman.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Lisa DiChiera, director of advocacy at Landmarks Illinois, said the history of the church, it’s iconic look, and the community programs it offers is what led her organization to support the project.

“We wanted to make sure that this building doesn’t get any further along in deterioration,” DiChiera said.

And for a church like Greenstone, DiChiera said a complete restoration could require at least $1 million.

But Mason said no matter how much they raise for their restoration campaign, they will use it toward the building regardless.

“If we raise $5,000, we’re going to do $5,000 of work. If we raise $50,000, we’re going to do $50,000 of work,” Mason said. “We’re going to raise, repair, restore.”

He said without any sort of restoration, “the city would probably eventually come down on us” due to safety concerns, which could mean closure.

But for a church that has accepted people of all races and denominations for years, Mason said the restoration is for more than physical reasons.

“In restoring this building, we’re also restoring community, we’re restoring relationship. Almost everybody over here has some kind of story about this church even if they weren’t a member,” he said. “We’re rebuilding the relationships around us.”

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