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In the Minneapolis Como neighborhood, one historic building stands out from the rest. The Como congressional church, designed by famous architect Charles Sedgwick, is currently being restored into more than just a place to gather.
The church has withstood more than a century of change. It has been used as a space for social reform meetings, a medieval armor museum and now, as a community space.
Larry Crawford has lived down the street from the church for over 40 years. He now is part of a nonprofit, overseeing the restoration of part of the church. Crawford knows all about the history of the building.
“It was created as kind of a community meeting space by James Elwell who founded the Como neighborhood in the early 1880s, ” said Crawford.
Maria Sanford, one of the first women to be named a college professor, fought for women’s suffrage and clean water in the Como congressional church.
“We’ve done a lot of research about Maria Sanford, she’s an extraordinary Minnesota woman. She was called the best loved woman in Minnesota for her role in social causes, public health, better government and so on. She lived just nearby on the other side of the block, and this was her base of operation.”
Joel Hussong recently bought the historic church. He donated the sanctuary and converted other spaces like the Sunday school to apartments. So this is no longer just a place to pray. It’s a place to stay.
“Many of the tenants had never dreamed they’d live in a church and now they’re living in a church,” said Hussong.
It is no simple task to renovate a 19th century building.
“We ran into a thousand gallon fuel tank that no one had known about,” said Hussong.
The building is already being enjoyed by those in it.
“These are the original walls right here this is what it looks like inside the apartments, ” said Hussong.
“The exposed stone behind me is absolutely beautiful each room has em,” said Jon Hausten who lives in one of the church apartments.
Hausten moved into his apartment in September.
“Its a cool thing to say you live in a church. That, you know is something that I’ll tell my kids eventually. I lived in a church my junior year of college and it’s definitely a good experience, one I wouldn’t trade for the world,” said Hausten.
Even though the sanctuary is not complete, Hausten and others who live in the church apartments have been able to check it out.
“We all went through what we call the catacombs which is like this rock tunnel off in the basement here and it leads right to the back side of the sanctuary and we, you know we brought a speaker, we were sitting in the pews we put on the choir robes um people went up into the viewing area,” said Hausten.
For now the hope is that the sanctuary will be ready for public use for things like theatre productions and other gatherings by the end of the year.
The Como community nonprofit is looking for a lot of volunteers to help with things like painting and event planning. To learn more about the church restoration or how to volunteer, check out their website: https://www.comocommunitycenter.org .
