BY DAN SPALDING, Times-Union Staff Writer

One hundred and fifty years of history, including a role in the underground railroad and 90 years of religious studies, are coming to an end for a downtown Warsaw building.

The end of an era will make way for a new parking lot needed to accommodate Warsaw Community Public Library's expansion plans.

But members of the First Christian Science Church on the corner of North Detroit and Main streets in Warsaw apparently are ready to accept the changes and move on to a new location.

The long-awaited expansion of the library will begin to take shape next month when the Masonic lodge and house next to the church are razed.

The library has begun negotiating with the church and a business office west of the church. Library officials say they need the property for additional parking.

A spokesman for the church is taking a philosophical approach to the circumstances. In the long run, the move might be best for everyone involved, said Ken Nichols, first reader for the church.

"We believe in honest prayer and honest communications, and through negotiations with them, there will be a satisfactory price arrived at to enable us to find another piece of property," Nichols said.

Without the properties, the library parking lot would accommodate only about two dozen cars.

Church officials are aware the library could invoke eminent domain and seize the property, and they say they're not interested in creating a controversy.

Church officials also realize selling the prime downtown property will likely generate enough money to make the move possible.

Nichols said the church has considered extensive expansion plans. Except for a minor water leake, the foundation and structure of the building is sound.

He said the church is looking for property and hopes to find another church that wants to build anew and is willing to sell.

Despite its history, the property doesn't fall within the jurisdiction of any historical status that might protect it.

The building was constructed in 1840 and first used as a tavern and inn. A tunnel extended from the building's basement to the house next door and continued south to a former livery near the railroads prior to the civil war.

That tunnel was used primarily to transport slaves to freedom in the north.

The church tunnel's entrance has been sealed for years, and the basement is now used for storage.

Outside, the church, officially known as First Christian Science Church of Warsaw, features four white columns that give it a stately appearance.

Inside, the church is quaint and clean. It includes a small library consisting of bound volumes of the Christian Science Monitor, including an original copy published from 1909. Other works on display includes books approved by the church's founder, Mary Baker Eddy.

Beyond the reading room is the sanctuary, containing 13 pews that remain in impeccable condition.

The church has a small but devoted following, and continues to receive applications for membership, according to some parishioners.

"We've had an obligation to this community for 90 years," Nichols said. "We have an obligation to the community to bring the benefits of the teaching of Christian Science to the community."

The building might be removed, but its history will not die, Nichols said. History, he said, is a progression.

Library director Ann Zydek said the board realized that once the library became limited to construction at its current facility, some of the nearby historic buildings would fall by the wayside.

The board considered demolishing the current library, which is considered a historic site because of its Carnegie design.

The loss of one or two historic buildings will help preserve one, she said.

"It's a bittersweet expansion to go through," Zydek said. [[In-content Ad]]