Building & Facilities

Meeting House

The Center Church Meeting House (which most people would simply think of as “the church”) has stood at the corner of Main and Gold Streets in downtown Hartford for more than two centuries. During that time, it has served as a place for public meetings, speeches, presentations, concerts, plays, dance performances, weddings, funerals, and, of course, worship services. The building’s design makes it an excellent venue for acoustic music of all kinds.

Improvements were made to the Meeting House in 2000 and 2001 as part of a restoration project. The electrical service was updated with more circuits and grounded outlets throughout. A new audio system was installed providing excellent sound reinforcement for speech. With appropriate additional audio equipment, the facility has been used for performances of jazz, rock, and even hip-hop as well.

The main floor of the Meeting House seats approximately 500 people comfortably. Unfortunately, fire codes do not allow for the use of our balcony for public seating, but it does serve as our choir and organ loft.

Church House

Center Church’s other building (located at the corner of Gold and Lewis Streets) is the “Church House” and serves as our office building and Christian Education facility. There are several public spaces in this building as well as a large kitchen.

The ground floor includes the aforementioned kitchen and a large multipurpose room. The room is painted a bright and cheery yellow and serves as the location of our Saturday Morning Breakfast program. It has also been used for a variety of dining and meeting events. This floor also includes a room with a separate entrance via a stairway off of Lewis Street. The ground floor is handicapped accessible via a sidewalk ramp at the corner of Gold and Lewis Streets.

In addition to offices for Center Church staff, the main floor includes the Parlor and the Chapel. Both have served as locations for a variety of informal events and meetings. The Parlor is appointed in golds and browns with several comfortable easy chairs and couches. It is a bright room during the day as the windows face south and east.

Further into the building is the Chapel which features a beautiful stained glass triptych of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. There is a raised dais at the front of the room and the space will accommodate up to 60 people in a meeting arrangement. As this room has no windows (the stained glass piece can be switched off), it works well for video presentations even during the brightest part of the day.

The Christian Education classrooms are located on the 2nd floor of the Church House. There is also a small kitchen area and the Upstairs Parlor. The parlor spans the front of the building on this level and has windows on three sides overlooking the Ancient Burial Ground in one direction and the east end of Bushnell Park in the other. The room boasts excellent acoustics and serves as the rehearsal space for the Center Church Choir. It has also been used to hold meetings, presentations, art shows, and musical performances (in a smaller more intimate space than the Meeting House).

The Upstairs Parlor is actually two spaces connected by a wide open doorway. This makes it possible to use one half for a meeting or performance (seating perhaps 30 to 40 people) and the other half of the room as a refreshment area or display space.

Ceiling height throughout the building is 10 to 12 feet, lending a sense of spaciousness. A small elevator allows handicapped access to the main and 2nd floors from the ground floor.

For more information regarding Center Church’s facilities, please contact info@cchartford.org.

Room Measurements