Help Save Sanctuary and a Historic Landmark
Donation protected
Hello, my name is William Doyle and my wife Liz and I are the owners of Sanctuary, a 168-year-old church property formerly known as the Union Congregational Church, located in Maynard, Massachusetts. We purchased the property to preserve this historical building and honor the impact it had in Maynard. We wanted to support the arts and to restore the church to its prominence as a gathering place for the community. Through the years we largely achieved our vision, renovating the building to support three organizations dedicated to helping people, and introducing Sanctuary, a beautiful vintage performance center, event venue and lounge that has hosted concerts, fundraisers, craft shows, and free community events.
We are at risk of losing this historic landmark
Unfortunately, all our personal investments, hard work and planning may be in vain as the private investors who hold the mortgage on the property have decided they want out and are planning on foreclosing on the property at the end of October. If this happens, the church property will likely be auctioned off to a developer who will kick out all four-current community-based businesses and this historic property will be redeveloped. As the Coronavirus pandemic has largely upset the small business market, we are not able to secure a traditional mortgage to help cover this situation and as such, we are humbly asking for the community’s help in either paying off the existing mortgage or securing a new mortgage on the property and saving this landmark.
How you can help
There are several ways you can help support the campaign to save the church property and the community businesses that are located in the building, even if you are not able to help financially.
1. Please forward this go fund me link to everyone you know and ask them to forward it to their connections. These would be your Facebook connections, Instagram followers or email contacts. The more people we expose this message to the more likely we will be able to meet our goal.
2. Please consider donating to this Fundraiser. We are looking for a significant amount but every donation increases our chances of meeting our goal. Any amount you are willing to donate could help save this landmark. Even small amounts can add up if we get the word out.
3. If you have had any exposure to the church, as a congregant, or as someone who has interacted with any of the businesses that are there, or just live in town, please add a comment describing your personal experiences and why it is important to preserve this property. Not everyone who sees this plea for help will have had the opportunity to have experienced what we have built, or the impact it has had in the community. Your messages will help convey this to potential investors.
4. If you are someone who may be interested in helping us by taking out a private mortgage on the building, or partnering with others to do so, or if you have ideas on how we may do this, please contact me and I will be happy to have more thorough discussions with you.
A brief history of the church
For those of you who may not be familiar with the historic church property, it was built in 1852 by Amory Maynard, the namesake of the town, and it was not only a place of worship, but a school and gathering hall for all. For more than 150 years the Church was the hub of the community and a destination. Tens of thousands of residents went to school, worshiped, were married, and were memorialized here. The church was the default location for large community events, and presidential election campaigns were even launched on the outside lawn. In an ever-changing world, the church was the one constant in Maynard, always providing guidance, hope, support, and refuge.
Unfortunately, as the congregation dwindled, the Church fell onto hard times and in 2017 they put the property up for sale. My wife and I were selected as the new owners, primarily because we recognized the historic impact of this property and we promised to honor the history of the Church and restore its prominence as a gathering place for the community.
Our Mission
Our goals when we purchased the church were to create spaces for local businesses that were focused on helping people, to provide a space where we could support the arts, and a place we could share with the community. To achieve our vision, we personally invested over $1M and we took out a mortgage with a private investor to do a complete renovation of the property. Every major system was replaced, and new tenant spaces were created to welcome and cater to the new businesses.
Since then we have been proud to be able to count as our tenants: · The Community School , a preschool that has been located at the Church for more than 40 years and has helped thousands of children develop and strengthen their social, emotional and pre-academic skills. · Be the Love Wellness , a wellness center that has developed modern, fresh approaches to practicing yoga - whether that feels more like mindful movement, or is deeply rooted in connection and tradition. · The Maynard Food Panty – A 28-year-old organization whose mission is to help Maynard residents and those in need in the Acton, Sudbury, Stow and Concord area. They provide free food and personal care items to local families. Since the pandemic hit, the food pantry’s role has become ever more important as the number of families requiring assistance has increased dramatically.
Sanctuary
Sanctuary was named to honor the history of the church and to let people know that we are a welcoming, safe environment. We launched at the end of 2019 with a mission of supporting the community and the arts, as well as committing to preserving the building and its legacy. With high ceilings, historic stained-glass windows, and grand chandeliers we are able create experiences unparalleled in the area. We have hosted many concerts, private events, fund-raisers, and craft shows, and the reviews by artists, event hosts and attendees are all positive and word got around. Within just a few months we were being sought out by artists, organizations, and individuals to host events and we were booked through the end of 2020. We became the performance home to Spencer Brook Strings Youth Orchestra, and we are proud of our ability to host multiple free events for the community.
Thank You
Thank you to everyone who supported us and made us successful. You will never know how much it means to be part of, and to serve, the community.
As you can imagine asking for your help is incredibly humbling so thank you very much for listening, getting the message out.
William Doyle
#SmallBusinessRelief
We are at risk of losing this historic landmark
Unfortunately, all our personal investments, hard work and planning may be in vain as the private investors who hold the mortgage on the property have decided they want out and are planning on foreclosing on the property at the end of October. If this happens, the church property will likely be auctioned off to a developer who will kick out all four-current community-based businesses and this historic property will be redeveloped. As the Coronavirus pandemic has largely upset the small business market, we are not able to secure a traditional mortgage to help cover this situation and as such, we are humbly asking for the community’s help in either paying off the existing mortgage or securing a new mortgage on the property and saving this landmark.
How you can help
There are several ways you can help support the campaign to save the church property and the community businesses that are located in the building, even if you are not able to help financially.
1. Please forward this go fund me link to everyone you know and ask them to forward it to their connections. These would be your Facebook connections, Instagram followers or email contacts. The more people we expose this message to the more likely we will be able to meet our goal.
2. Please consider donating to this Fundraiser. We are looking for a significant amount but every donation increases our chances of meeting our goal. Any amount you are willing to donate could help save this landmark. Even small amounts can add up if we get the word out.
3. If you have had any exposure to the church, as a congregant, or as someone who has interacted with any of the businesses that are there, or just live in town, please add a comment describing your personal experiences and why it is important to preserve this property. Not everyone who sees this plea for help will have had the opportunity to have experienced what we have built, or the impact it has had in the community. Your messages will help convey this to potential investors.
4. If you are someone who may be interested in helping us by taking out a private mortgage on the building, or partnering with others to do so, or if you have ideas on how we may do this, please contact me and I will be happy to have more thorough discussions with you.
A brief history of the church
For those of you who may not be familiar with the historic church property, it was built in 1852 by Amory Maynard, the namesake of the town, and it was not only a place of worship, but a school and gathering hall for all. For more than 150 years the Church was the hub of the community and a destination. Tens of thousands of residents went to school, worshiped, were married, and were memorialized here. The church was the default location for large community events, and presidential election campaigns were even launched on the outside lawn. In an ever-changing world, the church was the one constant in Maynard, always providing guidance, hope, support, and refuge.
Unfortunately, as the congregation dwindled, the Church fell onto hard times and in 2017 they put the property up for sale. My wife and I were selected as the new owners, primarily because we recognized the historic impact of this property and we promised to honor the history of the Church and restore its prominence as a gathering place for the community.
Our Mission
Our goals when we purchased the church were to create spaces for local businesses that were focused on helping people, to provide a space where we could support the arts, and a place we could share with the community. To achieve our vision, we personally invested over $1M and we took out a mortgage with a private investor to do a complete renovation of the property. Every major system was replaced, and new tenant spaces were created to welcome and cater to the new businesses.
Since then we have been proud to be able to count as our tenants: · The Community School , a preschool that has been located at the Church for more than 40 years and has helped thousands of children develop and strengthen their social, emotional and pre-academic skills. · Be the Love Wellness , a wellness center that has developed modern, fresh approaches to practicing yoga - whether that feels more like mindful movement, or is deeply rooted in connection and tradition. · The Maynard Food Panty – A 28-year-old organization whose mission is to help Maynard residents and those in need in the Acton, Sudbury, Stow and Concord area. They provide free food and personal care items to local families. Since the pandemic hit, the food pantry’s role has become ever more important as the number of families requiring assistance has increased dramatically.
Sanctuary
Sanctuary was named to honor the history of the church and to let people know that we are a welcoming, safe environment. We launched at the end of 2019 with a mission of supporting the community and the arts, as well as committing to preserving the building and its legacy. With high ceilings, historic stained-glass windows, and grand chandeliers we are able create experiences unparalleled in the area. We have hosted many concerts, private events, fund-raisers, and craft shows, and the reviews by artists, event hosts and attendees are all positive and word got around. Within just a few months we were being sought out by artists, organizations, and individuals to host events and we were booked through the end of 2020. We became the performance home to Spencer Brook Strings Youth Orchestra, and we are proud of our ability to host multiple free events for the community.
Thank You
Thank you to everyone who supported us and made us successful. You will never know how much it means to be part of, and to serve, the community.
As you can imagine asking for your help is incredibly humbling so thank you very much for listening, getting the message out.
William Doyle
#SmallBusinessRelief
Organizer
William Doyle
Organizer
Maynard, MA