Church building moved to new site

EOWYN LeMAY IVEY-Frontiersman reporter

A Palmer church building that was nearly demolished and almost turned into a Boys and Girls Club has found a new life with another church.

Crossroads Community Church purchased the former First Baptist Church of Palmer, and earlier this month moved the 70-foot-by-140-foot building in two sections to its property on Bogard Road.

"It was quite a process," said Scott Wick, technical administrator for Crossroads Community Church. Greenstreet General Contracting began moving the building sections off a lot in Palmer about midnight and four hours later arrived at its new home. Wick and several other church members photographed the move and made a videotape of it. Roads had to be temporarily closed down while the building was trucked to Bogard Road.

Crossroads Community Church is in the process of working with an architect and getting fire marshal approval, with hopes of having the building reassembled and open by December. Wick said they plan to use the church for some of its midweek services. The building, however, is not large enough to house the 800 or so people who attend Crossroads Community Church services each Sunday at Teeland Middle School.

Eventually Crossroads Community Church hopes to have a larger facility at its property on Bogard Road and then the former First Baptist Church could be used for Sunday school.

Fred Meyer purchased the church and the Palmer lot it was on earlier this year in preparation for building a large grocery store near the Palmer post office. The national corporation said it would demolish the relatively new building if no one bought it, but Darrel Greenstreet of Greenstreet General Contracting purchased it and later sold it to Crossroads Community Church.

In the meantime, the First Baptist Church of Palmer broke ground on a building that will eventually be twice the size of its old facility. The new church will be located across the Glenn Highway from the Alaska State Fairgrounds. Until it is ready, perhaps sometime next winter or spring, the First Baptist Church is meeting at Palmer High School each Sunday.