By Claire Gebben, Membership Co-secretary & First Church Archivist
On Sunday, December 13, our First Church Seattle neighbors, University Temple United Methodist Church, deconsecrated their 1929 sanctuary in preparation for a 4-5 year transition while a new house of worship is built on the same site.
That process sparks many memories for congregants of First Church Seattle who experienced a similar process from 2008-2010, in moving from Fifth and Marion to our new home at 2nd Ave. and Denny Way. The decision to demolish the enormous neo-Gothic University Temple (U Temple) sanctuary (seating capacity 1,200) has taken about fifteen years to come to fruition.
“Our furnace was close to 100 years old,” said U Temple member Phyllis Holzworth. “The building manager somehow kept it going, but we were just praying it wouldn’t go out for good. The roof of the sanctuary is made with interlocking tiles and had begun to leak. Each leak repair cost thousands of dollars. We were trying to keep the building from disintegrating from under our feet. We have a shelter and a day care in the building, but it is not earthquake safe.”
Although the time had come to say farewell to the building, the decision has been a painful one. “A lot of the congregation has been there for most of their lives, baptized there, married there,” Holzworth said. “It’s been really hard for some of them to have it go.”
About a year ago, finances came together at a perfect time, and a developer was found who could build two student housing towers on the site, with a new U Temple sanctuary nestled between them. According to Holzworth, “architects and city reviewers have figured out a way to make the structures all blend together.” A Master Use Permit is still in process.
As for the present neo-Gothic sanctuary and education wing, all will be vacated as of December 31, 2020. Impressive features of the sanctuary include the organ and the stained glass windows, which will be carefully removed and repurposed. The actual dates of demolition and beginning of new construction are not yet firm, but once underway, it is estimated to take about 2-1/2 years. It’s not clear yet what ministries will move into the new building.
During COVID times, the congregation has been worshipping online, but once church services can be held in person again, worship will take place at the Masonic Lodge two blocks away on University Way NE and 45th. Their interim church office will be housed in the University Bookstore, right next to the Masonic Lodge.
“We’re pretty excited about the wilderness, out where we have to be for the next three to four years,” said Dale Hoff, member of the U Temple Building Committee, who also supplied much information for this article. “We’re not sure what that means. Hopefully we’ll keep our doors wide open for the community.”
The new church will be the congregation’s fourth house of worship. A complete write-up of the history of U Temple, the features of the present sanctuary, and more is here:
https://utemple.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/UTUMC_History.pdf