BANGOR – A $1.7 million renovation of one of the city’s architectural landmarks is set to begin next month.

All Souls Congregational Church, at the corner of Broadway and State streets, will reconfigure its French Street (rear) side, adding an entrance, as well as classrooms, a conference room, handicapped-accessible restrooms and an elevator.

“Basically, we’re building out from the hill behind the church and down,” said the Rev. James Haddix, the church’s pastor. “We’re building into the air.”

A groundbreaking to kick off the renovations will be held after services Sunday.

Designed some 90 years ago by Ralph Adams Cram, the foremost Gothic revival architect in the United States, All Souls has become a Bangor landmark and home to many of the city’s most influential families.

The 600-member congregation has been discussing an expansion for seven years, said Haddix, who has served as pastor since 1990. He said it was obvious from his first day on the job that if the church were to continue to grow, it would need more room.

One of the first issues that had to be considered, according to Haddix, was whether the church would stay put or move out of downtown, where it has been located since 1821.

“Having an urban church has its challenges,” he said. “Quite apart from what we needed to do theologically and spiritually, we had to take seriously the issue of parking and whether or not we were going to be committed to the neighborhood, even though we’re a regional church.”

That commitment goes back nearly 200 years.

Its predecessor, First Congregational Church, was founded in 1811. The congregation met for a decade in various buildings in the young city before it built a meetinghouse at the top of State Street hill. The original church did not face Broadway, but the city’s bustling waterfront.

That first building was destroyed by fire in 1830. A new building, facing Broadway and what was then called Stetson Square, was built the following year.

Over the next 25 years, two more congregational churches – Second Congregational Church on Hammond Street and Central Congregational Church on French Street – were built. Second Congregational today is named Hammond Street Congregational Church.

Two of the three churches were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1911, which burned a significant portion of downtown. When it came time to rebuild, First and Central churches merged to form All Souls.

Stones from both structures were used to build the new church, completed in 1913.

The planned addition and renovations are not the first All Souls has undergone since being rebuilt after the 1911 fire. In 1952, construction was completed on the Arlen A. Baillie Building next door, named after a beloved pastor. It houses offices and classrooms. That addition was designed by architect Eaton Tarbell and cost $167,000 – $1.4 million in today’s dollars.

Discussion about the current expansion began seven years ago, Haddix said. The first plan, a maze of hallways and stairwells, was rejected by the congregation. Earlier this year, the current proposal was endorsed.

In 2003, it was estimated the addition would cost $1.7 million. A feasibility study indicated that raising the money would be a stretch, but not impossible, for the congregation. As Haddix and others approached donors during the “silent” phase, congregants defied the church’s consultants, who advised All Souls to recognize large donors early and publicly.

“But once we started going around talking to people,” Haddix said, “some of our large advance givers said, ‘You know, this is a church. I don’t want my name at the top of the list with a big amount of money because my gift is really no more important to the life of the church than the least gift.’ It’s been very touching the way people have stretched to make this happen.”

By February, $1.3 million in pledges had been raised and by April, more than $1.7 million – the estimated cost of the renovations – had been pledged. The city planning board approved the proposal earlier this month.

The renovations also will move and update the church’s kitchen and expand parts of the church in the basement used for fellowship gatherings. That will allow more members of the congregation to attend events after services, increase capacity for special programs and allow other groups to rent the facility.

The church still does not have enough parking close by, especially for weekday and evening activities, Haddix said.

Still, the congregation was not interested in moving.

City Manager Ed Barrett praised the congregation’s decision to stay downtown.

“It’s a beautiful historic building on the entrance to downtown Bangor,” he said. “Theirs is one of those steeples that you see as you look across the river into Bangor. The city wants to support organizations that make a commitment to downtown and expand.”

Haddix said a city needs a mix of homes, businesses, schools and churches at its heart to remain vibrant.

“Church is a gathering place to equip the faithful to do their work outside the building,” he said. “The congregation has a sense of belonging and community-centeredness. They know [the building] has value and want to share that value as a sign of their commitment to Bangor itself and … to work to build the church in Bangor.”