Visitors getting their first look at the restored Heritage Sanctuary of Ebenezer Baptist Church In Atlanta won't notice dramatic change. And that's the point. "It's not new," says National Park Service superintendent Judy Forte as she inspects the iconic 89-year-old structure. "It's not renovation. we weren't trying to change things or give it a new look."
The small church known around the world as Martin Luther King, Jr.'s spiritual home during the civil rights era is open to the public again after four years and $6 million in public and private construction funds. Architects say King would recognize the restored sanctuary as the place he knew and loved. "To see it all come together at this time, it's just a joy, " says contract supervisor David Ates of the National Park Service.
King and his father, Martin Luther King, Sr., were co-pastors of Ebenezer from 1960 to 1968. The church on Auburn Avenue sits at the center of the Martin Luther King Historic District and served not only as a spiritual refuge, but a headquarters for civil rights strategy meetings. King preached his last sermon at Ebenezer in February 1968, two months before he was assassinated. And King's family held the funeral at the his church.
Restoration planners wanted to give today's visitors an accurate sense of King's religious environment during those turbulent times. "It was a challenge a privilege, pleasure, a joy, everything mixed together," says Project Manager Peter Holness.
Back in 2009 I visited Holness and his crews as they were stripping Ebenezer down to the bare walls. Guided by old construction records and photos, they painstakingly rebuilt the sanctuary piece by piece. Workers ripped out, repaired and refinished the original pews before reinstalling them. They removed, cleaned and reinstalled the church's stained glass windows. They replastered walls, refurbished the choir loft and rebuilt the balcony with newly-discovered original seating. Even the pipe organ, stairs and floors have been refurbished.
Most striking of all is the restored pink color of the sanctuary's walls. Holness admits to having initial doubts about that choice. "But as you walk through you can feel this kind of warmth, he says, "and I think it's really come together quite nicely."
Holness says he left the site when his crews finished their work and came back a few days later trying to imagine himself as a tourist seeing the restoration for the first time. "I had this sort of emotional feeling," Holness says, "and I think that's what most of the general public will have when they walk through."
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