Nine community members urged the Montgomery County Council to allocate $400,000 toward restoration of the Scotland AME Zion Church in Potomac.
Speaking Wednesday during the council’s public hearing on its proposed operating budget, they thanked the county for its earlier $300,000 allocation but said that was not enough.
The total cost of the work is $11 million.
The church on Seven Locks Road was built by hand by the ancestors of slaves and opened in 1924 as the spiritual home of the local Black community. Many of the descendants are still active members in the church and local community.
The church was damaged severely in 2019 during a flood that collapsed a basement wall and left the congregation without a place of worship of its own for five years. The flooding and subsequent storms damaged the very foundation of the church.
Church members and supporters are in the midst of a capital fundraising campaign and still need $2.6 million.
Catherine Leggett, honorary co-chair of the 2nd Century Project that is spearheading the campaign, spoke of “the gross inequities in the Scotland community,” and said, “I believe the council and the county should continue to help ensure that this Black community and the church remain a brilliant legacy like it once was.”
According to Leggett, there were about 40 historic Black communities in Maryland following Emancipation “but only a few remain.”
If the county contributes a total of $700,000, its share of the total costs would be 6%, she noted.
David Marriott, chairman of the Board of Marriott International, told council that in the 1960s, Joseph Dove was his grandfather’s gardener. Dove lived in the Scotland community and is a descendent of William Dove, who helped building the community.
The Scotland community originally was more than 500 acres but now stands at just 11 acres, Marriott said.
The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation previously contributed $1 million, and Marriott urged the council to approve County Executive Marc Elrich’s request in his proposed budget for $400,000.
The budget is expected to be adopted by June 1.
Rev. Dr. Evalina Huggins of the Scotland Ame Zion Church called the church “a living symbol of what community partnerships and collaborations look like” and she praised those involved in righting “historic injustices.”
Huggins told the council, “We have a shared journey of restoration and rehabilitation.”
Rabbi Evan Krame of the Jewish Studio said he has been involved in the church’s rebuilding as well as its spiriual contributions to the county since he learned that he used to live on land that once was part of the Scotland community.
What is happening to restore the church “is a prime example of restorative justice,” he told the councilmembers.
It’s important for people of all faiths to help restore this “beacon of our community,” adding, “We can’t love neighbors we do not know.”
County resident Kevin Beverly reminded councilmembers that the historic wrongs to this community “didn’t happen on your watch,” but added that “what happens next will be on your watch.”
Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Zane Slavin, MCM board president emeritus, called the church “a treasured asset in our county,” and said, “I can think of no better way to celebrate Black History Month” than by allocating the money for the church’s restoration.
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