By Pauline Masson –
I think we should declare Benton Kelley Day in Pacific.
After seven years the flood damaged Historic First Baptist Church on South First Street is elevated above the flood plain and completely restored.
Pardon my language but Mr. Kelley is going to be mad as He^^ about this.
He would not want to see any inclination that he thought he did this large community project by himself. He did not do it by himself. But he was the catalyst.
Mr. Kelley is a concrete contractor and an expert at elevating entire buildings above the floods that occasionally plague the south end of town. He said we (the restoration committee) would need to raise $21,000 to elevate Historic First Baptist and its annex/education building.
Titular heads of the committee that organized the fund raising for the project were Norbert Gildehaus, Bob Masson and Brad Reed. When consulted about elevating the two buildngs, Mr. Kelley volunteered to oversee the work as project manager.
The entire fundraising committee included Mike Bagwell, George Hinkle, Jerry Holloway, Shavar Ingram, Carol Johnson, Danny “Turtle” Johnson, Cody Kelley, the late Jim and Bill McHugh, Steve Myers, Lloyed Pruitt, Sue Reed, and Sister Frances Moury Rgis.
Two members of the Historic First Baptist family, Pastor Jimmy Perkins and Danny “Turtle” Johnson, lifelong caretaker at the church, passed away before seeing their beloved church completed and re-opened
The Rev. Robert Lee Stevenson accepted the role of pastor during the project and joined the fundraising. He and Deacon Loyed Pruitt are now planning a re-opening celebration. The date will be announced.
As fundraising committee members called in their markers and publicized the project, the community – and I mean the entire community – pitched in a total $265,000 in cash, material and labor that went into the little church.
Missouri building trades tell us that general contractors are usually paid a fee of ten percent of the total project. Mr. Kelley, like the other committee members, never accepted a penny for his work.
Six area churches, seven civic organizations, two political candidates donated excess campaign funds, scores of biker friends of Danny “Turtle” Johnson, 24 businesses and 80 individuals donors contributed cash. Two union locals contributed free labor and some material. The entire Johnson family showed up to cook and serve at multiple events. The mayor ran a shuttle service to two BigFoot 4×4 Open House celebrations and donations went to Historic First Baptist. The community turned out en masse for barbecues, poker runs, pool tournaments and trivia nights to benefit the restoration project.
Mr. Gildehaus admonished me to be all inclusive in crediting the donors, thanking everyone who donated or helped.
“Don’t try to name all the individuals,” he said. “There were so many, we would never get them all. Some skilled laborers showed up and worked all day didn’t even leave their names.”
As donations and workers arrived, Mr. Kelley corralled the men and material needed for each step. He would mention that the City of Pacific worked with him, providing dumpsters to remove flood debris and guiding him through each process needed to qualify the building for an eventual occupancy permit.
Renovation included new exterior siding, new windows in the education building, new drywall in the sanctuary, new electrical wiring, new plumbing, new heating and air conditioning, new gas lines, new carpeting, dropped ceiling and insulation in the sanctuary, entry ramps and stairs at all entries, and a parking lot. All of it derived from community donations.
One donor wanted stained glass windows in the historic church and donated funds to cut narrow windows on each side of the front door. Stained glass panels with lights behind will set behind the glass. A pediment was added above the entry door.
When pews were carried into the restored sanctuary, the little church once again took its position in the community as a place of worship.
The question was often raised whether the project was a restoration project or a preservation project. Mr. Gildehaus always insisted that even though the damaged structure was restored, the goal for the religious niche the church occupied in the city was to preserve the historic structure for future congregations.
“This building should last for another hundred years,” he said.
Thank you everyone!
Thank you everyone. What a great project. Pacific really came together for this. Awesome.
Awesome that it’s finally done. I can see the the big Smile Turtle has looking down at the finished Church and how Proud he would be of everyone that helped it get it done. Thank You to everyone who has helped work on the Church.
Great Work!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!