The Long View Center is a historic church building located in the Moore Square Historic District of

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, United States. The facility sits directly across from Moore Square, one of two surviving four-acre (1.6 ha) parks from Raleigh's original 1792 plan. Built between 1879 and 1881, Long View was originally known as Tabernacle Baptist Church. The name of the building was changed to Long View Center in 1998 after a local developer purchased the property to be used as a mixed-use facility. It was bought in December 2013 by Vintage Church. The

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

and offices are used by Vintage Church and Sunday services are held by Vintage Church Downtown.

History

In 1874, ten members of Raleigh's First Baptist Church left the congregation and began Swain Street Baptist Church. After the church's facility became too small for the growing membership, Swain Street members constructed a new building at the corner of Person and Hargett Streets and changed their name to Second Street Baptist Church. The new location was dedicated in October 1881. The name of the church was once again changed in 1910, this time to Tabernacle Baptist Church. During the influenza epidemic of 1918, the church opened a soup kitchen in the 1880 Hall and delivered over 2,000 meals to residents of the city. In the 1940s, the church operated a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

serviceman's center in a building next to the sanctuary. Throughout the war, an estimated 2,000 men visited the center. During this time, the church membership rose to almost 4,000 people and Tabernacle became the largest

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

church in North Carolina. Because of this increasing membership, two additional buildings were added. When

suburbanization Suburbanization (American English), also spelled suburbanisation (British English), is a population shift from historic core cities or rural areas into suburbs. Most suburbs are built in a formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence ...

became popular in the 1960s, membership began to decrease as more people moved out of the downtown area. By the late 1990s, there were only 650 members left. In 1998, the congregation decided to relocate to north Raleigh and sold the property to developer Gordon Smith for $3.07 million. While their new facility was being constructed, Tabernacle members continued to use the building until 2001. In 2006, Gordon leased the sanctuary to Unity Church after attending one of their religious services. In December 2013, Gordon Smith sold the Long View Center to Vintage Church. Unity Church continued to use the building until June 2014, before relocating to new facilities. Vintage Church Downtown held its first service at the Long View Center on July 6, 2014, after a month of renovations.

Architecture

The Long View Center is a mixture of

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

and Romanesque

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

. Originally a simple framed structure, Tabernacle was renovated throughout the early 20th century as the Moore Square district developed. The most notable renovation took place in 1910. The facility consists of a series of four buildings totalling 50,000 sq ft (4,645 sq m). The buildings are Freedoms Hall, 1880 Hall, North Carolina Hall, and Futures Hall. Freedoms Hall is the original sanctuary and is adjacent to Exploris Middle School. Freedoms contains 64

stained glass windows Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

, the

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

parlor A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessary ...

, and features natural

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

. Most events at Long View take place in Freedoms Hall. The 1880 Hall, named after the year the dining hall was completed, is home to the

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

, reception area, and smaller performances. The Futures Hall is a renovated two-story office building and the North Carolina Hall contains the Conference Room, as well as additional office space.

Vintage Church

Vintage Church uses the facility to house its central staff offices as well as Vintage Church Downtown offices and ministry spaces. The building also serves as a venue for concerts and events such as the

Hopscotch Music Festival Hopscotch Music Festival is an annual three-day music festival in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. With more than 120 bands, Hopscotch is known for adventurous lineups, memorable performances, and a fan-friendly atmosphere. From ...

, Wide Open Bluegrass Festival, and art galleries for First Night and First Friday.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 35.7784394, -78.6351906, display=title Churches completed in 1881 19th-century Baptist churches in the United States Churches in Raleigh, North Carolina Gothic Revival architecture in North Carolina Music venues in North Carolina Art museums and galleries in North Carolina Tourist attractions in Raleigh, North Carolina Unitarian Universalist churches in North Carolina 1881 establishments in North Carolina