MACHIAS: NEW ANGLE ON AN OLD BUILDING Centre Street Congregational Church, Machias, founded in 1772 and built in 1836, has always had an open-door policy. Now the church is accessible to all, thanks to an addition that houses an elevator to bring people up to the sanctuary. Completed in late spring, the addition was dedicated (photo) in a thanksgiving service Sunday during the Machias Wild Blueberry Festival. Pastor Gini King led some longtime church members in cutting a rainbow of ribbons as the addition was officially opened. The church also hosts the Bay Chamber Concert Series, the Washington County Children’s Chorus and a high school baccalaureate service. The angled windows on the front of the addition match the historic windows included long ago in the church design. Midway through the addition’s construction, the two windows were discovered in the attic of the church. The architect amended his plans, and the idea to add an elevator and broad indoor staircase seemed blessed from that moment on.

NEWS reporter Katherine Cassidy