Beginning of the end for 1896 church in Yarmouth

YARMOUTH One of Yarmouths most ambitious demolition projects in quite some time is underway this week.

Zion Baptist, a historic church and town landmark, is being dismantled, with the walls expected to come down after the weekend.

Employees of a New Glasgow demolition firm removed bricks by hand Thursday from high atop a west wall of the 118-year-old church.

Were just taking that wall down some because its close to a house and with brick you never know which way its going to go sometimes, said Marinus Verhagen, owner of Verhagen Demolition Ltd., the company in charge of pulling down the building.

The church is surrounded by homes and a museum.

You have to be careful, Verhagen said. Weve got to watch traffic on the street, too.

Yesterday we took the steeple off so we could get at the bell.

The huge bell cast from a bronze-brass alloy weighs about 475 kilograms, church trustees said. It was made in Baltimore in 1900 and installed a year later in the church, which opened for worship in 1896.

Workers removed some asbestos from the basement Thursday and expect Monday to begin knocking down walls in the Parade Street edifice featuring Queen Anne Revival architecture.

Theyll be permitted to fill the basement hole with broken brick, once other materials have been trucked away, said Verhagen.

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Beginning of the end for 1896 church in Yarmouth