The Future of the Church

It's been a long time coming, but in what Ronald Kopnicki called "the new Hudson we are celebrating in 2020," the African American community has decided to honor its long history in Hudson by preserving a building associated with that history. It is a welcome change from what has been the case in the past.

Back in 1998, when Historic Hudson tried to stop the demolition of the Chicken Shack and restore it as an education and community center, the late Estocia Berry, whose family history of making lemonade when life hands you lemons was represented by the building, vehemently opposed our efforts. She wanted the building demolished and once accosted a group from Historic Hudson in the middle of Columbia Street, suggesting that we wanted to keep her neighborhood down by standing in the way of development.

In 2011, when Historic Hudson tried to designate Robinson Street, an enclave of working class houses and the only neighborhood on the north side of the city to survive urban renewal intact, there was vehement push back led by Rev. Ed Cross, then Second Ward supervisor. Despite the fact that historic designation was meant to celebrate and preserve a neighborhood that in the early 20th century was home to African Americans, as well as Irish, Hungarian, and Polish immigrants, the residents of the houses in the early 21st century wanted nothing to do with any effort to protect and preserve the unique character of the neighborhood.

Later that same year, Gossips had only one ally in exploring the story of the Colored Citizens Club at Columbia and Third streets and advocating for the buildings believed still to exist beneath the windowless walls of the structure--one of which was a historic African Methodist Episcopal Church. The City and the neighborhood were committed to getting rid of what was considered an eyesore and a magnet for layabouts, and so the building went down, without any attempt to discover or preserve its origins.

Things have changed, and now the loss of the Colored Citizens Club is being mourned as the loss of one of the vestiges of African American history and culture in Hudson. What inspired this change of heart is the church building just down the street from the former Colored Citizens Club, which was the original house of worship for Shiloh Baptist Church and was for eight years, from 2009 to 2017, rented by Endless Love Temple, the congregation whose pastor is Rev. Ed Cross.

Gossips has told the story of the church's recent history: its seizure by the City for nonpayment of property taxes (the building was not owned by Endless Love Temple) and its sale at auction, in November 2017, to someone who planned to restore and develop it as a wedding venue. Last summer, the building was sold to someone whose plans for it are unknown. A hole in the roof inspired Cross to seek landmark status for the building, and last Friday, Cross appeared at the Historic Preservation Commission with the goal of getting the protection of historic designation for the building. 

The case for designating the building was made by Ronald Kopnicki, who read aloud an extensive history of the Baptist Church and, in particular, the tradition of black Baptist churches. Cross was also there to talk about his life growing up in the church, "when 'in God we trust' meant something and 'one nation under God' meant something." He went on to say, "It saddens me that I can't take my grandchildren and show them where their great grandfather had gone to church," and argued, "It should be declared a historic site because it is part of all of us."

Second Ward alderman Tiffany Garriga was present to argue for designation as a way of "showing the community of African Americans what they mean to the community and what the community means to them." Mayor Kamal Johnson was also in the audience and rose to assert the designation "celebrates the diversity of the city." Matt McGhee declared the designation would "gladden the hearts of our neighbors and celebrate their humanity by celebrating their house of worship."

At the outset, HPC chair Phil Forman cautioned, "If this is designated, it doesn't mean that all problems will be solved, but it would make it significantly more difficult to demo it." Later, he told those pressing for designation, "To me, this is going to happen. The question is how well we will make it happen." Forman spoke of the designation as "a unique opportunity to talk about black history in Hudson" and of the desire to "capture anecdotes of people's memories." Christabel Gough, who seemed convinced the building was in imminent danger of demolition, said designating the building was an emergency and urged the HPC to move forward with all haste. The problem was no one had prepared an application for the designation, which is required by law, and no one, not even the members of the HPC, knew where the form for the application might be found. (It's understandable. No new historic designations have been made in the past fourteen years.)

Gossips informed the body that the application form for individual historic site designation was available online at the City of Hudson website. At first, it was decided that Paul Barrett, historian member of the HPC, would take the information provided by Kopnicki and complete the application. Garriga demanded that the HPC complete and accept the application immediately, so the process could move forward, the owner could be notified, and any action to demolish the building would be prevented. Meanwhile, Kopnicki went out to the lobby and asked the city clerk to print out the application, which he then filled out on the spot, attaching the packet of materials he had earlier distributed to HPC members. 

A public hearing on designating the building a local landmark has been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Friday, February 28, at which time it is expected the HPC will have the opportunity "to capture anecdotes of people's memories" Forman spoke of.
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