Crews move North Prospect Church in Cambridge

Construction workers used a hydraulic system to push the 188-ton church along steel rails about 3 feet at a time for almost three hours.Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff/Wendy Maeda

CAMBRIDGE — Almost 150 years after the North Prospect Church was moved about a mile up Massachusetts Avenue to Porter Square, Lesley University moved it back about 80 feet Thursday as part of a plan for a new arts center.

In front of a small crowd of onlookers, construction workers used a hydraulic system to push the 188-ton church along steel rails about three feet at a time for almost three hours Thursday morning.

The church, which was moved to Porter Square in 1867 using a team of horses, is now resting on crib boxes about 18 inches off the ground. It will remain in place there until next week, when it will be moved another 24 feet forward onto a new foundation.

Students from the Maria L. Baldwin School watched wide-eyed as the North Prospect Congregational Church was moved 80 feet south and 24 feet closer to Massachusetts Avenue in Porter Square.Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff/Wendy Maeda

"If the church could talk, it's probably saying: 'Oh, my God, I'm moving again,'" said Tom McDermott, a project manager for John Moriarty and Associates, which Lesley hired for the arts center project. Davis Building Movers handled the move Thursday.

Lesley University is moving the church as part of a plan to build a new Lunder Arts Center at 1797-1803 Massachusetts Ave. and enable the university to move to Cambridge what has been known as the Art Institute of Boston.

The Art Institute of Boston is located in Kenmore Square and has been part of Lesley since 1998. The university purchased the church in 2006, and will restore the building and convert the interior into a library and design studios.

A three-story, glass-enclosed common area will connect the church to a new four-story building for art galleries, studios, and art-making spaces.

Marylou Batt, the vice president for administration for the university, said that she watched the 80-foot move of the church Thursday, and that everything went fabulously. Now the university will watch for the final move next week.

"It's a simple move, although moving a church is not simple," Batt said.

The church, originally known as the Old Cambridge Baptist Church, was built in 1845 on the site of what is now Harvard University's Littauer Center. It was moved to Porter Square in 1867 over the course of 21 days and renamed the North Prospect Congregational Church.

The church's new foundation was designed to rest the building at its original height, and a new steeple closely resembling the steeple atop the church in 1910 is being built as part of the restoration work.

Jason Forney, a senior associate for project architect Bruner/Cott Associates, said fine detailing and stained glass windows will also be restored as part of the project.

Forney said when the church moves into its final position next week, it will directly engage Massachusetts Avenue and will finally become a vibrant part of the Porter Square streetscape.