The first step to rebuilding Woodbury Union Church, which burned on Thanksgiving eve, could come this week as Bowerman Associates of Providence starts sorting through the rubble in preparation for demolishing what remains of the building.
Gary Christensen, chair of the Presbyterian church’s rebuilding committee, said Sunday that Bowerman was selected last week to manage the demolition and the construction to follow. Christensen is hopeful of retrieving church records and other items of use before the building is leveled.
On the night of the fire, as firefighters squelched burning embers, parishioner George Tarring asked firefighters whether they could retrieve cases of hand bells that were stored just inside the rear entrance. Remarkably, other than for some minor water and smoke damage, the bells were unscathed. They have since been cleaned and polished, and the 11-member hand bell choir has resumed rehearsals in its temporary home – St. Benedict Church, a short few blocks away from the intersection of Beach Avenue and West Shore Road and Woodbury.