Pioneer Church given a new name

After a lot of deliberating, the Pioneer Community Association has decided to change the name of the Pioneer Church to the Pioneer Center.

Its architecture and history give the old building a proper name of church, but because its current use, aside from a wedding here and there, has been to provide a place to educate and entertain local residents the new name seemed more appropriate.

The old name has created some difficulty for event bookings and advertising. The Pioneer Community Association, whose purpose is to preserve the Pioneer Church for “charitable, education, civic, social, literary and cultural purposes,” is hoping to circumvent these troubles.

“The board voted to change the formal name of the building to the Pioneer Center in order to reflect that the Pioneer Community Association is not a religious organization,” said PCA Board President Jennifer Hanigan, “and that the building is accessible to the community for a variety of uses. Of course we respect that to many people it will always be known as the Pioneer Church and we will continue to honor that spirit.”

“It will also join the city’s concept of a community or town center and help differentiate the old church building from the 'community center' in the old fire hall,” added PCA Treasurer, Randy Williams.

The Pioneer Church it may always be, but for official purposes, it will be advertised as the Pioneer Center.