January 6, 2003
Belfry owners to ask for city's help
Public hearing on landmark designation also set for Tuesday
by Lucy Schultze
The Oxford EAGLE
The community groups planning to restore the Burns "Belfry"
Church are hoping the city of Oxford will cover the cost of utilities
until renovation efforts get underway.
The Oxford-Lafayette County Heritage Foundation plans to ask
the Board of Aldermen Tuesday to provide utilities until work on the
building begins, which is expected to be January 2004. Bills for
electricity, water, sewer and gas at the 710 Jackson Avenue building
typically total $200 to $250 per month, said OCLHF's Jim Pryor.
Also on Tuesday, aldermen will hold a public hearing on
whether the Belfry should become the city's first locally protected
landmark under the recently revised preservation ordinance. The move
would protect the building from being demolished or radically altered
in the future through the oversight of the city's Preservation
Commission. Aldermen are scheduled to vote on the matter Jan. 21.
Both requests are part of an effort to restore the historic
church for use as a meeting place and cultural center for the
African-American community. Built in 1910 as Burns Methodist
Episcopal Church, the Belfry rests on the site where ex-slaves first
built their own house of worship, organized in 1869 as Sewell
Methodist Church.
After the congregation moved in 1973, the church was
converted to office space and later became the Oxford headquarters of
author John Grisham. The author donated the building in September to
be restored and used by the African-American community. OLCHF plans
to give the Belfry to the Oxford Development Association, an
African-American community organization, once the association
receives its tax-exempt status.
The ODA and OLCHF are working on plans to begin a joint
fund-raising campaign next month, said OLCHF president Maralyn
Bullion. The project was awarded a $100,000 grant in December from
the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, requiring $20,000
in matching funds. Preservationists had hoped the grant award would
be closer to the $500,000 they requested.
"It is great to get $100,000 but disappointing to fall short
by $400,000," said architect Tom Howorth, who is working on plans for
the restoration.
The group had hoped to have $600,000 to work with - including
the 20 percent required match from local sources - and has yet to
determine how far $120,000 will go.
Howorth said it was too early for him to estimate the total
cost of the restoration.
"I don't want to discourage anybody, but we will need
significantly more," he said.
Bullion said about $6,000 came in recently through
end-of-the-year donations. The groups plan to apply for money from
the Department of Archives and History again next year, she said, as
well as seeking grants from private foundations.