Madison Street United Methodist Church

In January 1999, a tornado essentially destroyed the sanctuary, gymnasium, and most of the educational building of this glorious 1882 historic church. The reconstruction of the church facilities highlights some of the remaining Gothic Revival elements, while blending new architectural elements of their time into this historic context. A new sanctuary seating 600 people and a larger Narthex were designed immediately behind the remnants of the original corner towers. Special attention was focused on acoustics and detailing to recapture the original ambiance of the former worship space. This American Gothic church with its tiered steeples has served as an icon for historic Clarksville since 1884. After the tornado, all that remained of the original sanctuary was the steeple towers and part of the narthex. EOA was given the opportunity to help the congregation reconstruct the facility, providing copper clad ‘ghosts’ of the steeples as references to the heritage of the church and of the people and buildings of Clarksville.