Historic Longfellow Park Church Building Burns in Fire
The Longfellow Park Chapel was the first LDS chapel to exist in the New England region. Members worked together to build the chapel through their own resources. It resides just a five minute walk from Harvard Square, off the historic Brattle Street, right next to the beautiful Charles River, and across the street from the Longfellow House in Cambridge. This beautiful building has been home to President Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve, President Eyring of the First Presidency, Elder Scott, Elder Nelson, Elder Parry, and many other apostles and general authorities. Yesterday morning, during a Stake Conference broadcast from Salt Lake City, members filed out of the building safely when they heard fire alarms. A fire had started in the attic about 20 minutes before the meeting even began. Members watched as firefighters tried to calm flames to no avail. The chapel was completely gutted and the roof collapsed. What remains are the steeple and the red bricks of the perimeter.
Not only did this building hold historic significance to members of the church past and present, but it housed the three singles wards from the Cambridge Stake in Massachusetts. It was home to many of us traveling from across the country or even from Finland, Croatia, Mexico, Brazil, New Zealand and many other places around the world. In times of transition and working towards goals and aspirations, this building stood as a refuge of comfort and peace. Testimonies were born, shared and tried in this building. It is truly a tragedy to the New England Saints, but especially to the Single Adults of the greater Boston area.
Members were able to salvage many of the rare books from our Institute Library (which also existed within these walls) and made an assembly line to the neighboring Quaker meetinghouse where they will be temporarily stored. Many of my close friends are book conservationists, which should come in handy in preserving these gems.
I personally have such fond memories of this building and the wonderful friendships and experiences I've had there. I've made a memory with almost every single person (dressed in Sunday clothes) that you see in these pictures. This was my home and my refuge and I am sad to see it go! Thank you for reading! My favorite pictures are the ones from Picasa.
http://picasaweb.google.com/luke.hutch/LongfellowParkMeetinghouseFire20090517#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFWulNyMHPA
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/05/fire_breaks_out_1.html
http://www.cctvcambridge.org/node/18042
Not only did this building hold historic significance to members of the church past and present, but it housed the three singles wards from the Cambridge Stake in Massachusetts. It was home to many of us traveling from across the country or even from Finland, Croatia, Mexico, Brazil, New Zealand and many other places around the world. In times of transition and working towards goals and aspirations, this building stood as a refuge of comfort and peace. Testimonies were born, shared and tried in this building. It is truly a tragedy to the New England Saints, but especially to the Single Adults of the greater Boston area.
Members were able to salvage many of the rare books from our Institute Library (which also existed within these walls) and made an assembly line to the neighboring Quaker meetinghouse where they will be temporarily stored. Many of my close friends are book conservationists, which should come in handy in preserving these gems.
I personally have such fond memories of this building and the wonderful friendships and experiences I've had there. I've made a memory with almost every single person (dressed in Sunday clothes) that you see in these pictures. This was my home and my refuge and I am sad to see it go! Thank you for reading! My favorite pictures are the ones from Picasa.
http://picasaweb.google.com/luke.hutch/LongfellowParkMeetinghouseFire20090517#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFWulNyMHPA
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/05/fire_breaks_out_1.html
http://www.cctvcambridge.org/node/18042