From the earliest gatherings in homes of small groups of Methodists to conduct their religious services, to the appointment by the Ohio Conference in 1818 of Mr. Ira Eddy as circuit rider preacher on the Grand River Circuit, to the construction of a Methodist meeting house on Liberty Street in 1822, and through years of changes and moving to different buildings, finally in the spring of 1873 construction was begun on this building located at 71 North Park Place in Painesville, Ohio. The lot, “suitably located on high ground in the center of the village on the north side of the village park,” was purchased from George and Sarah Steele for $10,000; and the contract for laying the foundation and cutting the stone for the building was given for $8,000.

Mr. Jacob Snyder was the selected architect. His design for the building incorporated ideas from the Metropolitan Wesleyan Methodist Church in Toronto, Canada for the front and exterior, while the Sunday School rooms and much of the interior followed the plan of the Akron Methodist Episcopal Church in Akron, Ohio. A description of the building by Mr. Snyder appeared in the October 23, 1873 edition of The Painesville Telegraph and contained the following details:

“This building, which in architectural style is designed to be decorated Gothic, and to be built of red brick, with stone dressings, has its foundation walls and ashlar (large, rectangular blocks of masonry) work now completed. Its greatest length, including the projections of buttresses, is 161 feet, by a width correspondingly measured of 80 feet. The plan of the building is symmetrical, having two towers upon the two front angles including the front vestibule between them; the main audience room centrally located; and the S.S. apartments at the rear. The portion of the building including the latter projects somewhat beyond the side walls of the central portion, thus producing an outline of plan similar to the letter T. Of the two front towers, the one is 18 feet and the other 16 feet square, having octagonal buttresses at their angles topped out with pinnacles corresponding with their size and form. The toppings out of the main walls of towers consist of gabled louvres, surmounted with parapets, and pinnacles smaller than those at the angles.” (Note: These towers were to have been surmounted by two iron spires, but ones that were placed upon the rear of the building were blown down, so that ornamentation was omitted from the towers.)

“The main S.S. room, exclusive of its complemental apartments, is 41½ ft. by 45½ ft., and in outline is somewhat more than a semi-polygon – from the sides of which are projected two stories of seven classrooms, or in all fourteen rooms. These are connected with the main room by folding sash doors. In height the central room extends somewhat above the flat pitched metal roof of the radiating classrooms, thus admitting its being lighted by clear story windows, which are alternated segmental and Gothic, and are located in the polygonal sides. As many of the latter as contain the Gothic windows are gabled, having their roofs intersect the absidal roof of the central room. The latter roof is finished against the rear wall of the main building. The ceiling of the main S.S. room is vaulted and that of the main audience room inclined from the sides to the center.

“The lateral extremities of the space occupied by the singers’ gallery and organ loft serve on the main floor level and vestibules to accommodate the S.S. apartments and the rear of the audience room. Here are also located the two rear stairways, affording access to both the main audience room and S.S. room galleries. The latter is designed to secure communication with the upper tier of radiating classrooms; and in plan it corresponds with the contour of the main S.S. room, … thus communicating with the vestibules.

“The stone dressings of the interior are wrought out of Amherst stone, and are freely distributed throughout the brick work, producing a pleasing contrast. The woodwork of the interior is designed to be chiefly black walnut, neatly finished. And the usual decorations of fresco-painting and stained glass, in structures of this class, are contemplated.