Music & performance
Rehearsals, small concerts, spoken word, theater readings, community performances, and acoustic gatherings.
Pigtown / Washington Village
Preserving a neighborhood sanctuary for art, music, gathering, and creative reuse.
Pigtown Sanctuary is a preservation/adaptive-use project, with the sanctuary as the main space. The goal is simple: keep the character of the building intact while opening a path for community, performance, and creative life.
Vision
A building with memory should not become another blank box.
Older neighborhood buildings carry more than square footage. They hold sound, craft, ritual, family stories, and the texture of a block. Pigtown Sanctuary begins from that premise: preserve what makes the space meaningful, then adapt it for present use.
The public vision is arts-forward and community-facing: a place for music, performance, workshops, talks, exhibits, and neighborhood partnerships. Youth and education can grow naturally from that base, but the first message is preservation and creative reuse.
The building
A few looks at the church itself.
Historic views of the sanctuary building at 527 Scott Street, showing the strong front pediment, brick façade, and the long side elevation that gives the place its quiet presence on the block.
01
Preserve the main room
The sanctuary is the defining feature. It should remain legible as a large gathering/performance space, not be chopped into small rooms or stripped of its character.
02
Let arts lead
Music, theater, design, visual art, storytelling, and neighborhood history give the project a public purpose beyond private restoration.
03
Build support carefully
The project needs people who value preservation, adaptive use, performance, youth opportunity, and creative neighborhood work.
Possible life of the space
One sanctuary. Many compatible uses.
Arts & making
Creative workshops, exhibits, design projects, photography, lighting, craft, and hands-on arts activity.
Community gathering
Talks, neighborhood meetings, local-history events, partnership programs, and carefully hosted public use.
Youth & learning
Arts and technology programming can grow from the core mission: real skills, real creativity, and a place that feels worth caring about.
“A preservation/adaptive-use project, with the sanctuary as the main space.”
Support
Help shape the next chapter.
Pigtown Sanctuary is looking for local knowledge, preservation allies, arts partners, community connectors, and people who understand how older buildings can serve new public purposes without losing their soul.
Useful help right now
- Local Pigtown / Washington Village history
- Preservation and adaptive-use contacts
- Arts, music, theater, and workshop partners
- Community programming ideas
- Photography, archival material, or stories about the building