For over forty years, Cannon Valley Friends Meeting met in private homes and various rental spaces in the Northfield area.
At various times, the Meeting investigated spaces that could better accommodate our activities and provide a more permanent location. Throughout this search, we found that the properties available would force us to limit the work we wished to pursue and/or the interactions we wished to have with the larger community, or else they would require a prohibitively expensive amount of renovation.
The next logical step seemed to be to begin moving toward building a new structure rather than occupying an existing structure. In the spring of 2011, the sense of the Meeting was to begin planning for a new meetinghouse. In June 2011 the Meeting found and purchased a home in very poor condition on a prime, centrally located lot at 512 Washington Street in downtown Northfield. The house was removed from the property, the lot was filled in and grass planted.
In preparation for building a new meetinghouse, Cannon Valley Friends Meeting engaged in seven visioning work sessions from September 2011 through November 2012. Through this process the Meeting developed a plan for a meetinghouse.
Construction of the Meetinghouse
On Sunday, October 27th, 2013, after Meeting for Worship at the Northfield Arts Guild, Friends walked the few blocks from 304 Division St to 512 Washington St, and gathered for a Meeting for Worship with Attention to Groundbreaking. Friends turned over the soil with a shovel in the spot where the new meetinghouse would be built, marking the ceremonial beginning of the construction.
On Tuesday, November 11th, the construction loan was successfully closed, the silver maple tree was removed, and way opened for the actual construction to begin. The next day, big machinery moved onto the site, and excavation began. By the following Monday, the main sewer pipe was laid, the basement excavated, and the footings to support the meetinghouse were precisely located and excavated.
Concrete pouring day was Wednesday, November 27th. Two truckloads of concrete flowed from the pumping truck through a big blue boom into the wooden forms that had been built on the site, and the foundation of the meetinghouse took shape. Thermal blankets were placed over the concrete to keep it warm, and the temperature dropped to 10 degrees F that night.
In early December, it warmed up enough for the concrete foundation to be finished, the wooden forms removed, and dirt back filled around it. The thermal blankets were re-positioned, snow covered everything, and the temperatures plummeted to -23 degrees F with a windchill of -50 degrees F. The winter was one of setting weather records, blizzards, school cancellations, dangerous driving conditions, and bitter cold. The meetinghouse foundation slumbered through it all.
After the delivery of a pile of floor joists and some lumber in mid-January, a sub-floor and stairs were built, and the basement portion of the meetinghouse was enclosed and heated. In that space, work was able to progress despite the bitter weather outside. There was a brief warm up in early February, and hammers and nail guns could be heard as the wall sections began to take shape. Another cold snap put another temporary stop to work outside. Then, in late February, a crane was delivered to lift the roof trusses high and set them in place. Crews worked to secure the roof trusses on the exterior walls, and the shape of the meetinghouse became visible for the first time.
The weather warmed in March, snow and ice melted, and everything got wet and muddy. Work moved up off the ground to build out the roof overhangs, and progress on the roof deck was steady. As spring arrived, shingles, windows, and doors were installed. The heating and air conditioning duct work and venting was framed up and finished. Insulation was put in place and vapor barriers secured. The piping for the floor heat was installed along with rebar. Color was added to the concrete, and the floor for the front two-thirds of the meetinghouse was poured. Work moved outside while the concrete floor cured.
The porch was framed, and stairs to the backyard were built. In May, the siding was installed. Wooden forms were built for the sidewalks and the driveway, and the concrete was poured. We were so ready to move in, and so much more needed to be done! The summer flew by, progress being made every week. Furnace, central air conditioning, air-exchanger, hot water heaters, drywall, tile, plumbing pipes, plumbing fixtures, wiring, light fixtures, switches, painting, etc., etc. . . . Friends undertook finishing projects themselves, including staining and installing the trim for the windows, doors, and baseboards.
On Saturday morning, August 23rd, Friends gathered for a landscaping workday with shovels and rakes. Plants were planted, and rocks, glass, and debris were removed to prepare for adding topsoil and grass. On Sunday the 24th, after Meeting for Worship at the Arts Guild, Friends walked over and got a look inside the new meetinghouse. Tours were given, questions were answered, and finishing the meetinghouse seemed within reach.
The goal was set to worship for the first time in the new meetinghouse on the International Day of Peace. Work times were scheduled to clean, organize, and move in. The CVFM library and furnishings that had been put into storage in the garage on February 18th, 2012, were cleaned and moved inside. Friends had contributed many hours preparing, and they would contribute many more hours completing the many unfinished details, but the sense of peace could not have been more complete during the first Meeting for Worship in the meetinghouse on September 21st, 2014.
Cannon Valley Friends Meeting 