1920 Fire Centennial, Part 4 – “A Phoenix Out of the Ashes” by David M. Fulk
This is the fourth in a series of blog articles discussing the destructive March 21, 1920, fire and the five-year journey to a new building and brighter future.
In my last installment, the church had gone through two construction bidding processes (fall 1920 and spring 1921) only to conclude they didn’t have enough commitments to cover the growing costs. (Immediately after the 1920 fire, the church raised $75,000 in commitments, but soon discovered the building they hoped for would be twice that.) I closed that post by wondering how the community was reacting to the slow and disappointing progress of the prominent Baptist Church. By fall 1921, the lack of progress was showing signs of frustration inside the congregation.
That September the Building Committee announced a third set of construction bids. Again, costs were beyond the church’s resources. With an increasing feeling they had to do something, the Building Committee asked one company to provide a bid to construct the shell of the entire building, but only finish the education space.
Although this phased-in plan wasn’t new, the church minutes signal the congregation felt resigned to this plan. But on a 68-8 vote, that’s how they decided to proceed. With winter in the offing, once again they had to wait for spring.
Before spring could arrive, news came that would change the outlook of the project. Eva Pixlee, widow of William T. Pixlee, died in December 1921. William and Eva’s estate left a $20,000 bequest to the new building with three conditions: 1) this gift must be the last payment on the building so there would be no debt; 2) the building must be completed according to the architect’s original specifications; and 3) the Sunday School building would be named as a memorial to their son A.G. Pixlee. The church unanimously adopted a resolution of acceptance in January 1922.
From here the pace picked up. The next month the church began excavating ground and in March, the contract was let for the rock basement. Then in April the church approved advertising final construction bids which were opened in May.
Contracts were signed June 7 with Lehr Construction Company ($98,578) and American Electrical Company ($1,098) both of St. Joe, and Thomas L. Dawson Heating and Cooling ($1,098) of Kansas City. Total contract cost was $109,251. None of this included furnishings.
Amid all this activity, the church planned a cornerstone laying ceremony for July 4. Promptly at 2:30 pm, with a large crowd on hand, a parade to the church was led by the Liberty Band, followed by state and local Masons in full regalia who conducted an elaborate ritual for the cornerstone placement. Into the stone, A.M. Tutt, grand treasurer of the Lodge and 2BC church clerk, placed a box with a wide range of contents from the church, William Jewell, the Masons, City of Liberty, and Missouri Baptists. Following the setting and securing of the cornerstone, the church led the rest of the ceremony with speeches, hymns, and prayers. Follow this link to an article about the event and a complete list of time capsule contents. It must have been a big box!
At long last the building was being built. One might say it began to rise like a phoenix from the ashes.
In November, after two years at the Methodist Church, Wednesday prayer meetings moved to the Hicks Building on North Missouri Street.
The Building Committee reported in December $116,076 in contracts had been let with $54,000 already paid. Even with the Pixlee bequest, they were still $23,000 shy of covering all their costs.
To cover the shortfall, the auditorium’s eight stained glass windows were offered as memorials. The four west windows were taken by the Chrisman family. On the east side, one would be provided by the Woman’s Bible Class as a memorial to James Irminger, Fred Musbach, and Bernard Stone, the three members killed in WWI. The other three windows memorialized the Ward, Alexander, and Doughtery families. The church also allowed the Women’s Bible Class to provide a memorial stained glass window scene behind the baptistry. While no records show how much was given for these windows, plaques still provide the memorial information.
As the calendar turned to 1923, the new year was filled with so much promise. The shell of the building was nearly complete and they would soon occupy the education space for both worship and Sunday School.
Would you like to go back and read the first three articles again? Click below to read the articles.
Article 1: 1920 Fire Centenary