The Possible Fall of Janes Church: A Chestertown Landmark at Risk

Anyone who has ever owned a house knows no amount of home maintenance is more important than keeping the roof in good shape. That universal truth applies to most of Chestertown’s historic structures. If you don’t have a weatherproof roof, you can kiss the rest of your beloved asset goodbye.

For example, the Garfield Center found they had to invest $200,000 to renew their historic theater’s roof framing, insulation and roof membrane – a lot of construction and expense that is not very sexy but is essential to keeping their building standing.

And that is the problem Janes Church must face. Twenty years ago they installed a faux slate roof with a fifty-year guarantee. When these “slates” began to fail in ten years, they discovered the manufacturer had gone bankrupt. Since then the roof has begun to leak, staining the plaster inside, and repeatedly wetting the roof framing, which inevitably leads to rot.

In its Centennial Year, Janes Church is at risk of demise. It is the only African American Building on a prominent corner in Chestertown’s historic downtown, and it must raise $250,000 for a new roof, some of that immediately. The good news is the Maryland Historical Trust has set aside $95,000 for Janes new roof, but for that to be guaranteed, the Church must raise $30,000 by this year’s end.

The Spy talked to the church’s building committee head Ralph Deaton, along with volunteer building advisors, contractor Jay Yerkes and architect Peter Newlin, at what is at stake with Janes Church and the urgency needed to make sure that this remarkable landmark does not fall.

Janes Church Facts and Notes

Janes Church is the only African American structure on a “Main” street in Chestertown’s Historic Downtown. As such, it represents the historically African American neighborhoods which for two and a half centuries had occupied the third of Chestertown’s downtown along Cannon Street, including Scott’s Point, the home of many notable “Free Negros” before the Civil War. Janes Church is evidence of successes of these African Americans even when their neighborhoods, shops and jobs were subject to Jim Crow discrimination.

Current Conditions

Its concrete shingles are in such bad shape that “catchers” have had to be hung from the eaves to stop these disintegrating “slate” before they strike pedestrians below. One valley of the roof is already leaking to the extent that plaster inside is stained and the wood framing is repeatedly wet, a primary cause of rot.

Financial Summary

The total roof replacement cost is $258,000.

Last year, Janes Church competed for an African American Heritage Preservation grant to fund its new slate roof. In July, the Maryland Historical Trust confirmed that the State has set aside a $95,000 for that purpose.

However, Janes Church must demonstrate by this year’s end; it has at least $30,000 of matching funds in hand if that $95,000 grant is to be guaranteed.

Donations are being sought to help Janes Church clear this first and most critical hurdle. The Friends of Janes, a Community-Church partnership of twenty years ago, has been revived to raise the balance those funds, including Joyce B. Moody, Chair of the Church’s Administrative Council and Ralph Deaton, Chair of the Building and Finance Committees, their Project Architect Peter Newlin, their Construction Manager Jay Yerkes, Larry Samuels, and Pete Weed. Please contact them by clicking here. Here is the form for donations: Community Donations Form