Carrollton Baptist Church’s parsonage on College Street was recently torn down to make way for a new one. The decision to build a new one came after it was discovered the house was in a state of decay.
“What started out to be a relatively small renovation project soon quickly turned into bad news for the church,” said Church Administrator Dr. Bernard Taylor.
“In the early stages of receiving bids for the kitchen renovation, it was discovered that the complete foundation of the structure was in a state of decay and the entire foundation would need to be replaced,” Taylor said.
“In addition, it was also found that the exterior walls also were showing evidence of major deterioration. The estimated bid to replace the foundation and repair the areas of exterior deterioration was projected to be between $150,000 to $180,000 and this did not include other needed inside repairs,” Taylor said.
After a discussing the parsonage within the church, it was voted on to replace it with a new one.
“We believe that this would be a wiser use of the Lord’s money,” Taylor said.
The home was built in 1943. Even though it is in the historic district in town, it’s not listed on the register as historic. The building and grounds committee do plan to build a home in keeping with the historic neighborhood, said Chairman of Deacons Jim Pilgreen.
The lot where the house was sitting also has a drainage problem.
“Due to the slope of the land in relation to the house, water would continue to drain under the house causing continual decay,” said Pilgreen. “We are going to work on the drainage issue as well,” he added.
Now that the house has a been cleared, church members are working on the slope of the lot and cleaning out debris without affecting the environment or any of the surrounding properties, Taylor said.
“Members of the building committee have already begun meeting to begin site preparations for the new parsonage and to secure building plans for the new home of the church’s future pastor,” The church is currently searching for a new pastor.
The building and grounds committee recently decided to renovate the kitchen of the 1943 home. The church purchased the house in 2011.
