Restoring the Little Brown Church

A Special Committee of the Pacifica Historical Society is working to restore our 90-year-old Little
Brown Church at its present location.  In the near past the Church was the Pacifica Police
Headquarters.  The Police Department has since moved into its new building in Vallemar.  The
Church building has been vacated and the fundraising work for its restoration has accelerated.

Restoration will be expensive.  The City of Pacifica, owner of the church, is at this time unable to
commit any funding.  We must, therefore, rely on financing from donations, special fundraising
events and grants.  We are now developing estimates of the cost of restoring the church.  To do
this, we must decide how the restored church can best serve Pacifica and its residents.  To this
end, we would like to share our ideas for the use of the church with our fellow Pacificans.

We envision a variety of uses for our Little Brown Church.  We plan to restore the main chapel
portion as it appeared when last used as a church.  However, to provide flexibility, we propose
keeping the floor clear of fixed furniture.  This will permit the chapel area to be used for a wide
variety of functions, such as meeting, weddings, receptions, memorial services, lectures, classes,
religious services, exhibits, etc.

We suggest that the rear two-story portion of the church, added to the original structure as public
school classrooms in 1948, can accommodate three major uses: (1) a moderate sized public
meeting room, (2) an early Coastside era museum featuring the furnishings, appliances and wares
appropriate to the period from roughly 1905 to 1940, and (3) an archives storage room for the
safekeeping of Pacifica and early Coastside documents, scrapbooks, printed materials,
photographs and artifacts.  There can also be room for research and for processing artifacts. 
Restrooms, a kitchen and a small office will be included.  The building will be handicapped
accessible throughout.

When renovation is complete, the Little Brown Church will be a highly useful public facility
available for a variety of community uses.  At the same time, we will have preserved an
irreplaceable link to the past for Pacificans of all ages and a community feature of great interest to
visitors as well.

We encourage Pacificans to review these ideas and plans for the Little Brown Church.  We will
welcome suggestions and comments on the restoration, building use and financing.  Tell us what
you think and how you feel about saving the Little Brown Church.   Please also tell us about your
experiences with the Little Brown Church. Did you go to school there?  Did you get married
there? Were you baptized in the Little Brown Church? 

Please fill out the Little Brown Church Questionnaire and tell us your story.