The building, which serves as a gathering place for the Zion Missionary Baptist Church, has seen better days, but its bones are still beautiful. A terraced balcony overlooks the vast stage of the 5,000-square-foot nave. Stained glass windows beam streams of color across the 40-foot ceiling. And two narrow staircases lead up into a tower crowned with a nonfunctioning neon cross.
“It’s an important story,” says William Baker, a co-owner who will be designing the interior of the new Oak Cliff Assembly. “What does happen with churches that aren’t used anymore? Luckily, the congregation stayed there and didn’t sell to developers, who wished to tear it down. A lot of churches don’t have that, and they’re greater than any building that can be built today.”
This city of Dallas landmark was zoned for townhouses when primary owner and developer A.J. Ramler of Proxy Property Management and his wife, Michaella, were invited to attend a Zion service held on the building’s administrative side. As the Ramlers were already immersed in purchasing and updating houses in the neighborhood, adding the assembly to their portfolio seemed a rare opportunity to preserve and build on local history.
“My wife had known about it and watched it for years because it was not being used,” says Ramler. “The church congregation were getting foreclosed on by the city. They were in a tight spot. We didn’t even see the inside until right before we bought it. We always say, you do some projects that make money, and you do some for fun when you love old buildings, and this is probably more for fun. We’re going to think outside the box and do everything to make it work.”
Through the initial stages of the restoration, the owners found a gold mine of historical documents, including a 432-page history of the church’s congregation courtesy of Jerry Alcorn, whose father, Carl, was a former pastor. Envelopes of donations, vintage instruments and painted backdrops also offered clues to the building’s past as a hub for the Assembly of God, a Pentecostal church founded by Bill Barney Boland in the 1920s.
Famed for healing and speaking in tongues, the congregation constructed a small frame building on Morrell Street, expanding to its current 1,200-capacity structure in 1942. The church remained in the hands of the Assembly of God until the mid-1960s when the Zion church took it over.
As Proxy embarks on the assembly’s restoration, every detail is considered. Historical consultant Alicia Quintans is working to preserve as much of the structure as possible while evolving the space for what it could eventually become.
“The idea is to leave the main sanctuary space, but it really depends on what type of tenant goes in,” she says. “A lot of theater groups want a smaller, more intimate space, so that’s the challenge, to find groups that can divide the space in a sensitive way. The protected part is the exterior — the interior is not protected, so it’s a case of can they find the right tenant to operate it without dividing it.”
While the sanctuary is a natural location for plays, concerts or weddings, the outer wings and hallways of the building could host any number of tenants, from artist studios to bike shops. Proxy has already leased out part of the administrative building — the first to receive a makeover — for co-working spaces. The company’s office manager, Haley Leavitt, says she envisions everything from a ghost kitchen to a micro-tattoo artist colonizing it. The Zion congregation has an indefinite lease to hold their services in the space.
“We’ll take any and all ideas,” says Leavitt, who is leading an average of seven tours a week for prospective tenants. “We have a guy interested in having an old-school barber shop, and we’ve been
Jerry Alcorn, circa 1945, stands outside of the Oak Cliff Assembly of God church, soon to become an artistic hub.
courtesy Jerry Alcorn
To keep the excitement going, Leavitt has co-curated the work of over 41 young artists for display at the assembly’s first art walk and open house, scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. July 9. Participants are using planks of wood recycled from pews as their canvases, creating work that ranges from the abstract to the surreal. Each piece is for sale, with 5% percent of the proceeds of each work going back to the building's restoration.
For the participating artists, contributing their talent allows them to have a voice in a neighborhood they love, one which developers often destroy.
“Oak Cliff is a very special place for me,” says teacher and artist Rosalia Salez, who contributed a cyanotype to the event. “It’s important for people to see the importance of bringing the community together and how we can help preserve these places. That’s how you create a safe place for everyone.”
Artist and photographer Kaitlin Seibert, who will also be participating in the event, adds: “I think it’ll be a true representation of the diversity in Dallas/Fort Worth. Haley emphasizes she wants people to come in for this upcoming open house and offer opinions and ideas of what the space could, and should, look like.”
Those who have toured the assembly to date have compared it to such structures as Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Whatever it ultimately becomes, its owners hope it will have the same impact on the community as that iconic theater.
“I think the goal is to save and give the building new life as a contributing building to the neighborhood and Oak Cliff at large," says Baker. "A place for people to gather, as almost a canvas or vessel where creativity can flourish whether it be a performance, event in the courtyard or a collaborative office space for new businesses to grow.”
The FREE Oak Cliff Assembly Art Walk is 4 to 7 p.m. July 9 at 919 Morrell Ave. Attendees can RSVP via their website. The event includes refreshments from Rev’s Grilled Cheese, Taco y Vino and Four Corners Brewery.
