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Realty office relocates to church
Published 12:00 p.m., April 3, 2007
Doing business in a former house of worship brings with it some benefits.
“Our code of ethics is certainly being upheld, that’s for sure,” Robert Jennings of Robert Jennings Realty said.
He has been in the real estate business in Ottertail for seven years, following his retirement from IBM in Rochester. Prior to purchase of the church building 18 months ago, Robert Jennings Realty, LLC, was located next to First National Bank on Riverview Road.
The church was originally erected in 1892 in Otto Township. In 1915 it was pulled by a team of horses into Ottertail and named Ottertail Emmanuel Evangelical Church. Five years later it was wired for two electric lights. In 1928 the church organization was disbanded, but a group of women organized to care for the then 38 year-old church. Ministers came over from Deer Creek for afternoon or evening services, his fees paid by the group. The church prospered and in 1951 a basement was added. In 1963, the name was legally changed to United Methodist Church. The building served its last days of service last year, when the congregation built a new church several blocks away.
“I bought the church for $48,000,” Jennings said. “They removed all the pews, the organ and the stoves. They had a full kitchen downstairs.”
The old altar was left for Jennings to remove. It was situated right about where his desk now sits.
The old building had just two power outlets, so he had to have it completely rewired, including cabling for television and computer network connections. The original paneling was left in place, but white pine wainscoting was added and the hardwood floors were refinished.
Downstairs, the kitchen we updated and completed, and a wall was added to create private space for a massage therapist taking up tenancy there.
He plans to build a garage on the site, possibly this summer, for extra storage space.
In the meantime, he and his staff will continue to do business in the old church, under you-know-Whose watchful eye.
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