- When members of Poway's First Church of Christ Scientist hold their services in their magnificent building in Valle Verde they will mark the end of an era in their church's history..
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- The first service in the new structure has tentatively ben scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 7. Only the power hookup delays official anouncement of the date.
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- Leaving behind their old church, a Poway landmark, they are moving into the structure which until last summer served as the Christian Science Pavilion at the 1964-65 World's Fair in New York. Through the efforts of Ralph Nelson, local contractor, the structure was secured for the Poway church and is now nestled in a valley off Pomerado Road on a parcel purchased by the Scientists two years ago.
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- Dismantled in New York, the building was shipped to Poway via the Panama Canal by Sea-Land Service in four large truck trailers. The 50-ton load was made up of thousands of pieces. The dome of translucent glass, focal point of the ediface, was made up of 1000 pieces.
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- Nelson presided over the complicated task of reassembling the structure -- a feat roughly comparable to the reconstruction of the ancient stone temple above the Aswan Dam in Egypt.
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- COMPLETED right on schedule, the new Church is an impressive sight The floorplan of the main structure is in the form of a 7-pointed star. The number seven thus represented has a special significance to Christian Scientists as it represents the seven synonyms for God: Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life, Truth and Love.
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- Perhaps more striking from within than from without, the building has white interior walls and a carpet of brilliant blue which gives no hint of the fact it was trod on by millions of feet during its 2-year stint at the fair. Carpeting in the Sunday school wing is deep red.
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- Seating for 144 is provided beneath the domed ceiling with capacity for expansion to 250 in the points of the star. Space has also been set aside for a board room, reader's rooms and a music room as well as for Sunday school and child care.
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- The 6000-square foot structure will be totally air-conditioned.
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- The building the church has occupied up to this point is one that has been steeped in Poway history. Constructed during the 1880s, the white frame building stood a short distance from its present Midland Road location until 30 years ago.
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- It was purchased for the church in 1936, a few years after the establishment of the Christian Science Society in Poway. Before its conversion the building had served as a lodge hall and informatl town hall for Powegians.
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- Last summer when the decision to move had been made and the plans completed to move the pavilion to Poway, the old church was sold to Poway Properties, developers of Old Poway. The new owners plan to maintain the church as part of the western setting of their development across the street.
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- Church members feel their new building will be as memorable a landmark as the old. Plans for the future include floodlighting the buiding at night and possibly construction of a moat in front as was done at the New York location.
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