Despite the fact that a farewell service was held earlier this month for the First Universalist Church of Southold, a few parishioners filed up slowly to the rubble today, tears in their eyes, as what remained of the beloved structure was swept away forever.
The church, long woven into the fabric of Southold’s rich history, was ravaged by fire in March. Members of the parish have come together in mourning, vowing to rise again and also stating that the true meaning of their congregation lives not in the iconic structure that graced the Southold bend for decades, but in one another.
Today, Krazy Klean Demolition, a Merrick-based company, was onsite to remove the rubble.
Crew members said they were able to salvage a file cabinet and some photo albums from the wreckage.
And it was the second demolition to take place within the week.
Peggy Richards, a parishioner at First Universalist Church of Southold whose home was also destroyed in a fire in February — she was living in the church parsonage when the church fire occurred — saw her home demolished last week in Greenport.
“The two demos are both sad and closure,” she said. “I’m able to move on now. To what and where, only time will tell.”
First Universalist Church of Southold’s Pastor Jeff Gamblee, giving his farewell thoughts at the service in early May, said, as the community reflected on wreckage, said, “We bid the building at the bend farewell. Let us pledge to move forward.”
