New Construction at North Parish of North Andover Will Bring All Church Activities Under One Roof

Blessing of new construction to take place on March 16

A part of the physical, spiritual and charitable landscape in the Merrimack Valley for literally hundreds of years, the North Parish of North Andover meetinghouse is about to undergo a major physical makeover.  The new building project will begin with a blessing on March 16, followed by the demolition and removal of North Parish’s current religious education wing at the back of the church. Construction of this new fully accessible religious education and staff office wing should be completed in September of this year.

This new building will bring all church and community group meetings and activities under one roof. North Parish will no longer use Old Center Hall across the street – which means the church will be safer and provide improved accessibility (offering easy elevator transport to the second level, for example). Now one single building will be home to the sanctuary, children’s religious education, staff offices, the Crossroads Coffeehouse concert room, and more. The new building will also expand the current available meeting space, providing more appealing and accessible spaces for events like the Red Bow Fair, and organizations like the People’s Pantry food pantry, the Great Pond Sangha Buddhist group, Andover Artist Guild, AA, McVagly Alliance for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth, Girl Scout and Brownie troops, and the many other community groups who meet in the church.

The new construction will complement the architecture of the historic meetinghouse, appearing very similar to what one sees now along Great Pond Road, and extending back and around the building to enhance the physical connection between the building and the church’s beautiful Meditation Garden. Windover Construction of Manchester, MA is the contractor on the project, and David Torrey of Torrey Architecture in Boston is the architect.

About North Parish

The North Parish is a vital, growing, regional Unitarian Universalist congregation serving members from urban, suburban and rural Merrimack Valley communities. We are a congregation approximately 600 people strong-- with 350 adult members, 140 children and youth, as well as a number of newcomers and friends. North Parish welcomes all visitors and seekers on Sunday mornings for services, which are held at 9 am and 11 am, or for any of the many community events they offer. North Parish is located at 190 Academy Road, North Andover. For more information visit www.northparish.org.