Dixwell’s Varick Church Eyes Potential Move

A historic Black church that has spent the past century-plus in the heart of Dixwell is considering relocating — amid a broader building up of the neighborhood’s commercial corridor.

That church is Varick Memorial A.M.E. Church, a Methodist congregation that was founded in 1818 by a racial segregation-defying minister alongside 35 enslaved New Haven African Americans.

Since 1908, the congregation has been based out of a church at the corner of Dixwell Avenue and Charles Street. It’s long been a citywide anchor for everything from local labor politics to racial justice organizing to social services for the homeless. Varick’s 242 Dixwell Ave. home is a recognized site on the Connecticut Freedom Trail and the Winchester Repeating Arms National Register Historic District. Booker T. Washington gave his last public speech there, in 1915. 

Varick Pastor Kelcy Steele confirmed for the Independent on Wednesday that the church is looking into potentially leaving 242 Dixwell.

“We don’t have any room for expansion,” Steele said. ​“We want a new modern sanctuary. We want to be handicap-accessible for an aging congregation.” He said the church’s various ministries, including a warming center for the homeless, have also ​“outgrown” the current Dixwell Avenue spot.

Steele emphasized that Varick has not committed to moving out of 242 Dixwell. It very well might stay put. ​“We don’t actually have to move,” he stressed. But, such a consideration is on the table.

He confirmed that a group of church congregants met on Monday, at an undisclosed location, to discuss the matter. ​“It was basically exploring the option of what a relocation would look like, and what the goal and procedures would look like” if such a move were to take place.

Steele cited the coming redevelopment of the Dixwell Plaza site into ConnCAT Place right next door to Varick as one factor influencing the church’s potential move.

“A lot of our parishioners were parking there for services,” he said about Dixwell Plaza, which a local development group called ConnCORP is building up into new apartments, a food hall, a performing arts venue, childcare and healthcare hubs, and offices for the related job-training nonprofit ConnCAT. ​“It’s going to pose a parking issue,” Steele said.

He said that the Varick community includes around 1,000 church members, roughly 300 of whom show up on a regular basis to Sunday services.

“With ConnCORP moving beside us, and what’s going on in New Haven, we were definitely trying to explore some other options in case we want to expand,” he added.

How does Steele feel about even the prospect of leaving 242 Dixwell Ave.? ​“It’s very emotional,” he said. ​“Right now, it is very new.”

Underscoring how the current site is not the most conducive to the church’s hoped-for expansion, he said, ​“Right now, we’re landlocked.” 

Instead of moving, Steele said, the church might stay at 242 Dixwell and add a ​“satellite location” instead.

Steele did not identify a new location if the church were to leave Dixwell Avenue. He repeated several times over the course of the phone interview that Varick has not 100 percent committed to leaving its site, that these relocation considerations are quite new.

What comes next as the church decides whether or not to leave 242 Dixwell? 

“We are pausing and praying,” Steele said, and not rushing into any decision. He said the church and its congregants have to continue discussing the matter.

The neighborhood’s alder, Troy Streater, told the Independent that he had not heard about the church’s potential move before this reporter asked. He reached out to Steele, and confirmed that such a relocation is possible.

“It would be sad to see them move,” Streater said. There’s ​“a lot of history there. I wouldn’t want to see them go.” Streater also emphasized that the church building has not been sold, and no plans are final.

A representative from ConnCORP did not reply directly to the question of whether or not the agency is looking to buy Varick’s church building. 

Instead, the organization’s CEO, Erik Clemons, provided the Independent with the following written comment for this story:

“ConnCORP has been a long supporter of Varick Church and we’re humbled by its history of serving generations of Dixwell residents for more than two centuries.

“If Varick’s leadership decides to seize strategic growth opportunities away from its home on Dixwell, ConnCORP will remain committed to supporting them and the neighborhood in the best ways we can. As a known investor in the Dixwell corridor, we’re interested in any opportunity that would support the ongoing restoration and beautification of this historic community.

“It’s no secret that ConnCAT Place on Dixwell is poised to change the lives of hundreds of community members, many of whom attend Varick services every Sunday. Should an opportunity arise that allows our organization to more deeply invest in Dixwell, we will consider every angle, examine the impact, and ultimately work on a solution that ensures the best interest of the church, its members, and the neighborhood at large.”