Christian Valley Baptist Church: history and property description

              VII. Description
Christian Valley Baptist Church sits on an urban lot within a working-class and middle-class neighborhood in Collegeville in
north Birmingham. Across the street is a public school campus.~and in the distance, beyond the school, are smokestacks
and other elements of the industrial environment that surrounds Collegeville.
The Christian Valley Baptist Church is a brick one-story building, with brick and concrete foundation and an asphalt shingle
that rests on a full, raised basement, where Sunday School rooms and a community room are located.
Its south fa9ade has a very low-angle gable front dominated by a projecting central porch and double stair up to the raised
main level. Veneered in orange-red brick, windowless on the fa9ade, there are concrete steps up from both sides to raised
parapeted porch under a high entry-bay gable roof. This extends the main gable and is supported by two square brick piers
rising from the ground; this porch bay is now masked on the front by a five-light panel of plate windows and a composition
board panel up to the roof, which was added c. 1975. This inexpensive addition provided members with additional cover
from rain, but it did cover the open space that had existed between the two square brick piers. A similar board panel faces
the bay above the double-door entry, now fitted with commercial-style aluminum-and-glass doors, c. 1975. A low square
belfry and cupola sit on the front roof-beam; these appear to be of plywood or composition board construction, but they date
to the original construction of the building. The concrete steps have iron pole railings; a ground-level double-door entry into
the center parapet wall is covered by a shed metal awning, c. 1975.
The east elevation contains five bays, defined by slim projecting brick piers. The church level windows are metal frame 2H­over-
2H sash with painted glass. The ground-level basement windows align with the sanctuary windows, in the.same metal­frame
style but not painted, and with heavy concrete headers. The basement brick color is lighter as well. The1iorthern most
bay contains entry doors on both levels. These are metal doors, with the church level entrance having a metal staircase and
a metal awning.
The west elevation is similar in its fenestration except the rear door is reached by way of a metal ramp that originates on the
landing of the front steps and rises along the entire length of the side to the main level. This serves as the handicapped
access to the building.
The north (rear) elevation is a brick wall, with a brick chimney centered on the wall, flanked by metal frame one-over-one
painted glass windows.
The sanctuary is a low-ceilinged room with almost no space above the windows; the acoustical tiles and recessed fluorescent
panels were installed c. 1975. The walls are wood-paneled with a carpeted central aisle over hardwood floors. There is a
central front dais with sunken baptistry in front of a shallow chancel area masked by a curtain. The dais has a wrought-iron
railing in front of it and is surrounded by piano, organ and trap set, in addition to assorted other furniture, which dates c. 1960.
The basement is divided into classroom spaces along the walls and then a large community room with kitchen in the center.
The kitchen was modernized 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, design, and association to the exterior
of the building. The interior of the church received remodeling c. 1975, when new ceiling tiles were installed along with new
lighting and carpet. The kitchen in the basement was also remodeled. But the sanctuary spaces, along with the large
community room space in the basement, remains in their historic condition .
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