Hanover
Now organizers must develop a plan that can pass muster with town officials and gain acceptance from nearby homeowners concerned about the residential character of their neighborhood.
“This is really big and exciting news,” Chris Audino, a pastoral resident who handles administrative matters for the church, said in an interview on Thursday. “We’ve been on a long journey in some ways toward this goal.”
Audino said Christ Redeemer has been meeting in Hanover for 17 years, many of them in Hanover High, which allowed them use of the gymnasium on Sundays.
That meant loading church supplies — child care activities, music equipment, sound equipment — in and out of a trailer each week, a situation that prompted the congregation to start eyeing Hanover real estate listings for available land.
“We really, truly appreciated having that space on Sunday mornings,” Audino said. “It’s been tremendous for us, and it’s really been exactly what we needed in several ways. But at the same time we’ve always desired a place to meet on our own.”
The church in recent months purchased four contiguous properties forming a nearly 8-acre plot at the corner of Greensboro Road and Velvet Rocks — 28, 32, 34, and 36 Greensboro — on which it hopes to build a sanctuary. Greensboro Road connects with Lebanon Street just south of downtown; across the street, the congregation also owns a 1.7-acre piece of empty land at 33 Greensboro Road.
That piece of land, as well as 28 and 32 Greensboro, changed hands in March, when the church bought it for about $740,000 from the estate of Dana R. Wilcox Sr. The Baptist congregation later acquired 34 and 36 Greensboro in May. Before the sale, an attorney for the Wilcox estate in December had signed on to the church’s initial filing for a site plan review by town officials.
Christ Redeemer last year submitted to town officials initial plans for a more than 18,000-square-foot church with an estimated build cost of $4 million, but withdrew them for further refinement after a public meeting in January where abutters expressed concern about changes in light, traffic and the general character of the surrounding neighborhood.
“It’s very hard,” said Lara Acker, who lives across the street from the site, “because they’re very nice people, and I understand that they really want to have a home for their church. But it’s very hard for us because this is a residential neighborhood.”
Acker and her husband, Jeff — along with several other neighbors — voiced concerns at a Jan. 3 Planning Board meeting, according to minutes.
The residents noted the size of the congregation, the church and the proposed parking lot — at least 100 spaces — and questioned whether that was appropriate for the surrounding area.
Later in the meeting, Planning Board Chairwoman Judith Esmay read aloud the criteria for the special exception to zoning code that the church would have required, and noted that the Planning Board and Zoning Board consider the likely impact of a given project on surrounding neighborhoods.
The church later delayed to a later date a meeting with the Planning Board, and ultimately withdrew its site plan review application, according to town records.
“As much as we long to have a building, what we’re trying to do right now is gather as much information as we can internally so that we can truly know our needs,” Audino said.
Once the congregation’s requirements are clear to its leaders, he said, Christ Redeemer can work with the town and with neighbors to make sure its proposal matches “the fit for the area.”
“The shovel-to-ground reality is a long way off, at this point,” he said.
Christ Redeemer Church also has branches in Quechee and Sunapee — it bought the circa-1873 Quechee Community Church last year — but has ties in Hanover that it needs to maintain, Audino said.
“We’re a blend of old, young, married, single, white collar, blue collar — a pretty diverse bunch within Hanover,” he said. The congregation includes roughly 80 Dartmouth students, who would be able to walk or bike to the new location. “It’s central to our vision to be part of the Hanover community.”
“To that end,” he added, citing donations of thousands of dollars and community service hours by the church, “we’ve really sought to be a really active, generous community in terms of serving the Upper Valley.”
If the church does end up constructing a new, permanent sanctuary on Greensboro Road, it will still use the Quechee church, where it now holds holiday services.
“There’ll be ongoing activities happening within the Quechee church and our hope is to restore the building,” Audino said. “ … This is part of who we are. We’re trying to revitalize and restore churches throughout New Hampshire and Vermont.”
Although Audino could not offer specifics regarding a construction timeline or building plans, Christ Redeemer likely would want a structure that could accommodate roughly 400 people, he said.
In the meantime, Jeff Acker, the neighbor across the street, has adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
“I don’t want to be prejudging something that doesn’t exist,” he said by phone on Thursday, referring to the church’s decision to begin its plans anew. “I think they were very sincere in listening to some of our concerns, and I don’t want to be saying there’s no proposal that will ever work there because I don’t know what they’re going to come up with.”
Rob Wolfe can be reached at rwolfe@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.