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June 26, 2024

A church revival: Vox Church acquires vacant building in downtown Hartford

Contributed 129 Lafayette St. in Hartford.
By David Krechevsky

A Hartford church that was acquired by the state in 2008 and considered for a variety of alternate uses will once again be a church.

The 22,490-square-foot, Gregorian Revival-style building on 1.07 acres of land at 129 Lafayette St., was purchased Monday for $750,000 by Vox Church, a non-denominational, multi-site Christian church with 11 locations in Connecticut and southern Massachusetts. 

According to the Hartford Office of the Tax Assessor, the property is valued at about $2.3 million, with the building valued at nearly $1.5 million. 

The Lafayette Street building was constructed in phases between 1923 and 1930 for the Second Church of Christ Scientist. It served as a place of worship for over 80 years until it was purchased by the state in 2008 for about $2.3 million, according to Shane Mallory, who oversees the state’s real estate portfolio.

The property has been mostly vacant since. It previously had been pitched as a rehearsal and performance space for the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and the Connecticut State Library, located next door, considered using it for its Museum of Connecticut History, but nothing ever materialized.

John McKay, a spokesman for the state Department of Administrative Services, said in an email Wednesday that the state received four proposals to purchase the property, including the offer from Vox Church, and that Vox’s bid was the highest.

Vox Church Hartford began conducting Sunday services in 2016, meeting at the Infinity Music Hall on Front Street.

Dave Bruno, a church spokesman, said the building will eventually become the permanent home for Vox’s Sunday services. Renovating the building, which will include making it more energy efficient, is expected to take nine to 12 months, with the goal of creating a seating capacity of 700 people, he said.

While the property at 129 Lafayette St. has just 26 parking spaces, the church has reached an agreement with the state to provide free parking for Sunday services in the state-owned garage nearby at 60 Washington St.

Bruno said the church’s goal is to begin holding services in the building in early to mid-2025.

Founded in 2011 in New Haven, Vox Church says it is committed to revitalizing buildings for the benefit of the communities it serves and that it has a track record of renovating deteriorated, vacant buildings. Recent projects were completed in Branford, Middletown and Springfield, Massachusetts.

Its areas of focus for serving the community in Hartford include homelessness, food insecurity and education. Its charity partners include Connecticut FoodShare, M.D. Fox Elementary School, South Park Inn, Hands on Hartford, and World Vision. 

With a permanent facility, Bruno said, it will be able to serve as a location for food distribution, citywide service days, school tutoring, a warming center, and addiction recovery groups.
 

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