On our extended Shaftsbury trip (pictures in a future post) we stopped in Arlington. I never knew much about Arlington other than it was farther south somewhere, and it must be pretty rural because we know some people with a camp down there. Needless to say, that does not make me any sort of expert on Arlington.
What I learned in researching our trip is that there used to be a Catholic Church in Arlington, Vermont called St. Margaret Mary’s, which was located at 3938 Rte. 7 A, Arlington. So I looked it up and off we went. When we arrived, I was dismayed at what I saw. First, it was hard to tell that it was once a church. It’s a pretty hideous example of mid-century modern architecture. The kids were a bit shocked and they too couldn’t believe the building had once been a church. Apparently though, there are some that really love it and in fact, they are turning it into a performance arts center as I type this. The Preservation Trust of Vermont has taken an interest in the property, and you can read about what’s happening there in a short article linked here.
So back to the architecture. I realize hideous might be a strong word, but really, when I think to myself about building a sacred space to house Jesus himself in the Eucharist, I want to make it as beautiful as possible and to give our best to God. It’s hard to say that this building represented building the most beautiful sacred space or giving our best to God in any way. But it was a sacred space once, and Jesus was just as present in the Eucharist there as he is in any other church. But architecturally, I don’t think this building was a loss to the diocese. Sorry mid-century modern lovers! I feel bad for the people that had to head farther away to attend mass, but otherwise, I’m pretty ambivalent about closing this building.
The killer part about it all, is before St. Margaret Mary’s opened in 1964, Arlington had a beautiful little church called St. Columban’s. The Bennington Museum has some pictures of it on their website linked here. It was a quaint church, but the interior was stunning. I wish the photos were in color so we could get the full effect, but I find them to be beautiful even in black and white. I wish I knew what the justification was for abandoning something beautiful and creating something so…underwhelming. Sadly, Arlington now has no Catholic presence other than St. Columban’s cemetery. I believe the closest church is now in North Bennington.
