THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996 TAG: 9606070165
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 78 lines
TWO BAPTIST CHURCHES, one started by discontented members of the other many years ago, are coming together to build the centerpiece of Vision 2005 for the Effingham-Elm area.
The congregations of Ebenezer Baptist Church, 131 years old, and New Mount Olivet Baptist Church, 74 years old, have voted to sponsor a center for elderly housing and retail shops at County and Chestnut streets.
The Rev. Ben Beamer, a former vice mayor of the city and pastor of Ebenezer for 22 years, and the Rev. Milton Blount, a Portsmouth native and pastor of Mount Olivet for four years after serving as assistant minister for 14 years, have been working with the Vision 2005 committee to plan for the environs of their church buildings.
``We want the building to be a centerpiece,'' Beamer said. ``We want to participate in the revitalization in its early stages.''
As now envisioned, the proposed four-story structure would contain 90,000 square feet and contain 99 apartments. The street level of the L-shaped structure would have 20,000 square feet of commercial shops and offices on Chestnut Street and a lobby and multipurpose rooms on County Street.
The red brick building would have porches off the apartments on both sides of the building. The apartments would be aimed at people with moderate income.
``We want to provide a safe, sanitary and decent place for elderly people,'' Beamer said. ``We hope to create some community about the building. A large piece of the first floor - the lobby and the meeting rooms - will be dedicated to that. We also would hope to create a courtyard in the L-shaped space, where people could have weddings or meetings and where the residents could enjoy being outdoors. It would be a structured environment for independent living.''
The project will be run by a nonprofit corporation separate from the churches. The board will include six members from each congregation and the pastor of each church.
The group first will be looking for seed money for design and securing government status that will give a tax write-off to those who invest in the building.
``It will be set up so that the income from rentals pays for the mortgage, operation and maintenance,'' Beamer said.
The creation of housing for low- and moderate-income people is not new to Ebenezer congregants. Twenty-eight years ago, they built Ebenezer Plaza, 52 apartment units near the church. The development started with a federal grant, and the apartments have paid for themselves.
Beamer says he sees the complex as being ``for all citizens,'' not just those of African-American descent.
``We hope to create that kind of community,'' he said. ``And when the time comes to promote it, we hope all the other churches in the downtown area will participate in it.''
The cooperation between Ebenezer and Mount Olivet is a good beginning. Both Beamer and Blount emphasized that there was ``not a split'' when Mount Olivet was formed.
There were differences in the congregation, as recorded in church minutes, over whether the pastor should stay or go. And when the Rev. Clarence Somerville left Ebenezer, some of the members followed him to establish the new church.
Time now seems to have healed the wounds.
Mount Olivet has grown. From a small-frame building at 930 County St., the congregation in 1983 built a much larger brick complex a few hundred feet west on County Street. The original church building, adjacent to the property earmarked for the elderly housing project, is used now as a ``family life center'' and to house summer youth programs.
Blount said Mount Olivet has about 600 members. Ebenezer is larger. About 1,200 people come to Sunday services, Beamer said, but many more are on the rolls. MEMO: [Related stories on page 12.] ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
The Rev. Ben A. Beamer, left, and Rev. Milton R. Blount look over
the area along Chestnut Street where their churches will construct
senior apartment complexes over retail businesses.
KEYWORDS: REDEVELOPMENT VISION 2005 by CNB