Beale Sanctuary Overview

The Beale Sanctuary is the former home of the Beale Memorial Baptist Church. Essex County purchased the Beale Sanctuary and contiguous offices, which have been remodeled and are in use. However the Sanctuary, which has been identified as a potential community center, lays dormant. The building is in good condition with some necessary repairs anticipated to the structure especially with regard to water leakages in the basement and other facilities improvements. As of now there is no significant facility providing community performing arts, visual arts, and music services to the county citizens. It is the hope of the Main Street Program that the Beale Sanctuary Arts Center organization will stimulate interest in the arts, and provide a robust resource for cultural activities. The County has stated that there is sufficient budget to handle physical plant remediation, and that there may be budget for a single Parks and Recreation employee to staff the planned Center.

The Beale Sanctuary has a very nice stage, with plenty of offices and backstage facilities, a large basement, and an auditorium space that will seat approximately 200. The building was built as a colonial era courthouse, and its projected use should take into account the respect for the site that is appropriate to its illustrious history. Learn more here: http://www.essexmuseum.org/history-courthouse.htm