Downtown church

sells to App State
By Caroline Monday
cmonday@mountaintimes.com

The congregation of First Presbyterian Church of Boone has voted to sell their current property on East Howard Street to Appalachian State University and relocate to a new facility, which will be constructed on Deerfield Road.

Neville Chaney, a member of the church’s relocation exploration committee said the church has leased their parking lot, located across the street from the church building, to ASU for a number of years. He said that while renewing last year’s lease, the church approached the university to ascertain the school’s interest in purchasing the church building and the parking lot.

ASU leaders voiced an interest in purchasing the site and the church began exploring its relocation options.

Chaney said the committee found a desirable site on Deerfield Road that was suitable for the church’s growing needs while also being conveniently located and in their price range.

Last Sunday, Jan. 27, the congregation voted and approved the committee’s recommendation to sell their current location to ASU and relocate to Deerfield Road.

Chaney said the transition recognizes the changing needs of its congregation.

“Right now, the present facility does not have good handicap access.” Chaney said.

He said the facility also lacks appropriate spaces for the youth and children’s programs. The current facility is landlocked, making the addition of a playground impossible, Chaney added.

He said there are various new programs the church would like to introduce, but it is prevented from doing so by the limitations of its current location.

The age of the building makes it exempt from certain current building standards. However, changes made to the facility, such as the addition of an elevator, would require the church to adhere to modern building standards, which would be extremely difficult.

Chaney said the church and university are in the process of making sale agreements and First Presbyterian’s new location will be completed in two to three years.

While the university considers each site on a case-by-case basis, Lorin Baumhover, chief of staff in the ASU Chancellor’s Office, said the institution is generally interested purchasing available property near the existing campus.

There have been no statements as to what will happen to the church building, once the sale transaction is complete. The church site is currently zoned as R-3, or multi-family residential. It is possible that the site, once sold, would require a change in zoning to U-1, university zoning, depending on how ASU decides to use it.

Baumhover said he expects university and church officials will meet soon and the transaction should proceed fairly quickly.

Staff writer Melanie Davis contributed to this report.