CLEVELAND — In August, a tornado tore the roof off the historic New Life at Calvary Church in Cleveland, leaving a gaping hole in its ceiling and leading to a monthslong clean up effort. Because of mold, asbestos, and lead, members of the church have been unable to access anything beyond the gym, which has been deemed safe and has housed their services.
However, the church is getting closer to reclaiming some of its first-floor space, working with professional services to clean the building from the rafters down. On Friday, the building underwent air and surface testing for contaminants, with results pending.
"We try to trust in God's plan, but sometimes, that can be very difficult when it seems like the wait is a long time," Pastor Kellie Sullivan said. "Just waiting and trusting and praying and staying together. This tornado has really brought us closer together as a church family."
The Cleveland Restoration Society was working with the church before the tornado hit, and that partnership has only continued in the aftermath. Margaret Lann, the society's director of preservation services and publications, says the organization applied for and received the National Parks Service's Underrepresented Communities Grant, which "works towards diversifying the nominations submitted to the National Register of Historic Places."
Just weeks ago, Lann says the Cleveland Restoration Society was awarded more than $50,000 in grant money to help complete nominations to the National Register of Historic Places for six historically Black Cleveland churches, including New Life at Calvary. The other five are Greater Friendship Baptist Church, Nazarene Baptist Church, Emmanuel Baptist Church, Advent Evangelical Lutheran Church, and The Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church.
"A listing in the National Register is the highest landmark honor that a building can receive in the country," Lann explained. "It celebrates the history, it valorizes the community, and it can open doors to some grant and funding resources for the churches."
Lann says the application process is a lengthy one, requiring multiple layers of approvals and review plus information including building descriptions, histories, photos, and maps. She adds they expect to hear about New Life's designation by the end of this year or beginning of next year.
"It really legitimizes our history. It helps us to say that what happened at Calvary Presbyterian Church is a true historical fact for the Cleveland area, and it shows the importance of what we have been doing here for, now, it'll be 144 years this year," Sullivan said of the impact of possibly being named to the National Register. "It will share information about how we participated in the Civil Rights Movement, how we have members that are quite notable in our area, and just that we care about our community and we have been involved since the very beginning."
Lann tells 3News only about 4% of Cleveland designations in the National Register of Historic Places "reflected the historic Black church," noting that New Life at Calvary was very successful in integrating its congregation.
"It has been an honor to work with all of these Cleveland area churches on their historic designations," Lann said. "Sharing this history and achieving National Register status is something to really celebrate."
In the meantime, New Life at Calvary will continue cleanup and rebuilding efforts, while asking for continued support from the community.
"We're looking forward to restoring our building," Sullivan said. "We want to bring it back to its glory, its brilliance."