Shady Grove Baptist Church: history and property description

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Shady Grove Baptist Church sits on an urban lot within the Collegeville neighborhood of Birmingham, just blocks away from
its famous neighbor, the Bethel Baptist Church . The build ing, constructed in 1942 with permastone added to the exterior in c.
1960, is an unadorned gable-front church, measuring approximqtely 40 feet x 70 feet, with a set-back 35 foot-square ell
wing, added c. 1975, off its north elevation. It has a concrete foundation and asphalt shingle gable roof.
The west fa~ade is defined by a pyramidal-roofed square belfry sits on the front roof-beam . It has a symmetrical three-bay
gable front with central entry flanked by central windows, which are metal-frame sash, with painted glass. The doors are
replacement commercial-style aluminum-and-glass, added for better security c. 1990. A flat metal canopy, c. 1990, is over
the entry-bay stoop, which is five steps up from the ground . There is a louvered vent in gable peak; architectural shingle roof.
The windows are all metal-frame sash, 2H-over-2H, with painted glass.
Th~ south elevation is five symmetrical bays of all metal frame twelve-over-twelve windows, with painted glass. The wooden
handicapped ramp for the front entrance begins along the sidewalk on this elevation. As a side entrance, there is a six-panel
metal replacement door with a poured concrete stoop that has a metal stair rail. Also from this elevation, the rear concrete
block addition can be seen, with a six-panel metal door with a metal awning.
The north elevation originally was an ell-wing, exhibiting three symmetrical bays of all metal frame, twelve-over-twelve,
windows, with painted glass. The last two bays are covered by the ell wing, which was originally composed of a wooden
door, with arched six-panel metal door entrance with a keystone, and flanked by twelve-over-twelve windows . This
fenestration remains, but in 1975 the congregation expanded the wing with a concrete-block Sunday School rooms/
community room add ition, which extends the ell on the north side and then wraps across the rear of the building ~ ....
The east (rear) elevation is a concrete block wing, with six asymmetrical bays. The northern three bays contain a wooden
entrance door, with a low concrete stoop, flanked by metal-frame, two-over-two double-hung windows. The southern three
bays are metal-frame, fixed eight-pane windows.
The interior of the church is flat-floored , double-aisled down to the dais with central pulpit and sacrament table below; pews
number ten to eight to seven from left to right sections, with two pews on each side perpendicular to the rest of the
congregation; the choir is in a narrowed chancel area with a gathered curtain behind. The pulpit retains its wood podium and
furniture from c. 1960. The plaster walls have faux wood paneling over their lower-half paneling. Original hardwood floors
remain, but have been carpeted in the aisles. The ceiling was lowered and acoustical panels and new light fixtures c. 1975.
The church meets the registration requirements for church buildings in the Birmingham's Civil Rights Movement, 1933-1979
MPS. It retains a high degree of integrity in setting, location , materials, workmanship, and association to the alterations and
expansion of the building c. 1960, which occurred during its period of significance. The addition of the rather unadorned
educational building in 1975 to the rear of the building does not lessen the building's sense of place and time, since the
addition's mass, style, and materials do not overwhelm or detract from the architectural quality of the older building.