Members of historic Falls church hope state rings bell on preservation effort

Aug. 15—NIAGARA FALLS — Over the course of its long history, First Presbyterian Church has marked the time in the Cataract City.

The First Street church — one of the oldest in Niagara Falls — predates by decades the incorporation of the city itself.

The church building has endured the economic ups and downs of the city and the arrival and departure of dozens of mayors and city council members.

It even managed, thanks to the efforts of several dedicated church members, a couple of whom happened to be lawyers, to stave off destruction while nearby buildings on Old Falls Street were torn down during Urban Renewal in the 1970s.

"I guess we just evolved with it," said John Goddard, an elder with First Presbyterian Church who has been a member of the church since 1969. "We're here and we hope to be able to stay."

Goddard and other members of First Presbyterian, which is surrounded on three sides by empty, big box buildings that were built during Urban Renewal, are working on a new plan to preserve the historic structure.

They're in the process of applying for a grant through the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. If approved, the grant would cover $420,000 of a large-scale preservation project that church members estimate could cost about $620,000.

In two years, when the church is scheduled to celebrate its 200th anniversary, members of the congregation hope to be able to ring in the occasion by ringing the bell inside the church tower, a bell that hasn't been rung in years.

"There is an actual bell, but we don't ring it," said Goddard, who serves as chairman of the church's grant committee. "Structurally, it's not safe anymore. That's one of the reasons why we're doing the repairs."

First Presbyterian Church of Niagara Falls was formed by a group of five members in 1824. The church's original group of trustees included some of the community's most prominent residents and founders, including Augustus Porter, one of the first white settlers in Niagara Falls.

The congregation originally met in a schoolhouse at the corner of Falls and Mechanic, which was later renamed Prospect Street, until 1831. That year, the congregation moved into a small, wooden building on the southeast corner of Falls and First streets.

Construction of the current church, located at 311 First St., started in 1849. The building opened its doors a year later.

The cost of the project, including the land: $8,000.

In 2014, the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

As was common in community churches, for many years First Presbyterian's bell once ran every hour on the hour.

As part of the preservation effort, church members are planning to rebuild the tower's interior infrastructure so the bell can be safely rung again.

"We think the bell from the bell tower came from the old wooden church," Goddard said. "We have a date on it of 1848."

With help from the state parks grant, church members are also hoping to repair the building's roof, touch up the limestone masonry on the building's exterior and restore the First Street entrance to the sanctuary, which has also been closed off to visitors amid safety concerns. The preservation plan also calls for restoring the windows in the clock tower and uncovering a large window at the front of the church that once allowed sunlight into the sanctuary.

"We want to preserve what we have," said Carol Dashineau, an elder who has been a member of the church since 1964. "We want to continue to be a part of the downtown area."

There are 40 or so active members of the church these days, although the building remains a point of interest for people visiting downtown, especially those who have an interest in history and historic buildings.

In June, the church welcomed a group of more than 300 members of the Korean Presbyterian Church who traveled together on a trip to see Niagara Falls. They used the church for worship services during their stay.

Church pastor, the Rev. Cathy Rieley-Goddard, who is no relation to John Goddard, said she's hoping a successful preservation effort will allow the church to host more visitors and events in the future.

"They wanted to be in a church building rather than a hotel. We'd like to be able to do that more often," Rieley-Goddard said.

Church members are also working with representatives from the USA Niagara Development Corp., a state-run public agency that oversees development in downtown Niagara Falls. State officials want to include First Presbyterian as one of the stops on a new heritage path that would enable visitors to learn more about local history as they move about in the downtown area.

For Goddard, a long-time member of the church, the preservation project is not just about sprucing up the building. He said it's also about ensuring one of the community's oldest structure maintains its presence in downtown Niagara Falls, the place it has stood for nearly 200 years now.

"I guess it's a sense of pride," Goddard said. "We are the caretakers of the building as well as the congregation. It's up to us to make sure it's still standing after we depart."