A Unique Dining Experience

The Church Street Pub building was dedicated as a Methodist Church on May 31, 1903. For the next 60 years, it served the parish well. After the congregation moved to the corner of School Street and Rountree in 1964, the former house of worship continued to serve other denominational needs until the early 1980s, when maintenance costs and upkeep became too great a burden for a small parish.

Once abandoned, the structure became further degraded until two preliminary efforts were made to transform the former church into a restaurant.

On April 5, 1993, the building was purchased by Richard and Susan Armbruster, and the work began. It took two long years of intensive labor to create the elegant eatery it is today. Every square inch of the building has been restored. Most striking are the gorgeous stained glass windows which have retained their original beauty.

The distinctive bar was created from giant pocket doors between the original cloakroom and the south vestibule.

Structural changes completed by the Armbrusters include tuckpointing inside and out, a new boiler and heating system, roof and gutter replacements, new plumbing and wiring, new kitchens upstairs and downstairs, and new access stairs behind the scene to help speed food to your table.

One of the major tasks was to level the sloped sanctuary floor – at its most extreme pitch, a full 13 inches – to make dining more comfortable. As in every phase of the renovation, the dedication of the Armbrusters was to honor the integrity of the original structure, so six weeks were devoted to sanding and refinishing the original wood floors.

The handsome Meneely brass bell in the main dining room was lowered from the belfry and placed permanently near the former pulpit. The bell, one of the first fifty made in this country, was purchased from the West Troy, New York company in 1863 at a cost of $240. The bell’s replacement cost today would be $8,400.

As Church Street Pub begins a new secular history, the Armbrusters hope to collect memorabilia reflective of the building’s long service to generations of worshippers. Patrons are invited to contribute copies of old photos, church bulletins and newspaper clippings into a retrospective worthy of the past.