An historic Black church in Springfield is open again – but this time it’s as a place for education and keeping history alive. The former Benton Avenue African Methodist Episcopal church building is now called the Benton Avenue Educational Center.
Drury University just completed a major renovation of the building and held a ribbon cutting for the 1926 building Friday afternoon. While the building was constructed in 1926, the church dates back much further. It was organized in 1872.
The church formally closed on July 1, 2014. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. Reverend Oliver Brown, the lead plaintiff in the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, pastored the church from 1959 to 1961.
In 2024, Drury announced it was beginning the renovation of the brick building, which was listed on the National Historic Register in 2001. The project was led by Springfield Architect John Oke-Thomas.
Funding for the project came from private donations, allocations from Greene County, the State of Missouri, Drury University and The American Rescue Plan Act, which provided capital for state and local governments to make strategic investments in long-lived assets, according to Drury. It said the project has been a priority for the university.
Drury University student Lauren Coleman, who's a member of the historic Black church, Washington Avenue Baptist, cut the ribbon. The former Washington Avenue Baptist Church building is now the Drury Diversity Center. The university dismantled it several years ago and rebuilt it around a new skeleton just 200 feet from where it originally stood.
Dr. Rosalyn Thomas, associate dean of Diversity and Inclusion at Drury University, has said that the restored Benton Avenue AME building will be a part of the Springfield-Greene County African American Heritage Trail.
