2007 'rebirth' of historic University AME Zion Church building

Saved from near-certain demolition, the historic University African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Palo Alto, Calif., was restored between 2007 and 2009. It was built in 1925 to house the first black congregation between San Mateo and San Jose. In the 1930s, it became the focus of a successful community-wide, multi-racial effort to save the property from foreclosure. The congregation sold the church in 1965 to raise funds for a new church facility elsewhere in Palo Alto. When the church faced demolition in the late 1980s, a church member submitted an application on behalf of the church to the National Register of Historic Places. It gained historical status in 1996 and in 2007 was incorporated into a development project along Ramona Street and Homer Avenue. The church will become office space. On Oct. 10, 2009, the congregation held a worship service in the old church to celebrate its rebirth. News story at www.paloaltoonl...

[@GlennDGrace]

Wonderful!