Springfield Church Being Moved To Make Way For Casino
SPRINGFIELD (AP) — A historic church is on the move.
Construction crews on Tuesday started moving the 129-year-old First Spiritualist Church in Springfield about two football field lengths to make way for the city's new casino.
The church is now on what will be the MGM Springfield casino's gambling floor. Relocating the church is part of MGM's historical preservation commitment to the city.
Crews have spent several weeks jacking up the church and placing it on a sophisticated array of wheels that will inch the building to its new location over three days.
The high Victorian Gothic brick church was originally known as the French Congregational Church but has been known as the First Spiritualist Church since 1919. It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983.
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This story has been corrected to show that the church was originally known as the French Congregational Church, not the French Protestant Church.
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