Islamic Society Seeks 1st Permanent Mosque in Concord, NH
President Hubert Mask said the society has outgrown the rented space it uses at the East Concord Community Center. It’s planning to buy the brick building set back from the road at 181 N. Main St. and marked "Capital Offset Co.,” as well as an abutting house at 9 Pearl St.
The society will go to the zoning board this week to request the variances it needs for its plan. It’s proposing to merge the two parcels and demolish the house to add parking.
Mask said Muslims come from as far away as Littleton and Lebanon for the society’s busiest Friday prayers. The planned move would alleviate the headaches of operating out of a rented space and provide more room for a classroom, offices and separate prayer areas for men and women.
Currently, Mask said, the imam has nowhere to meet privately with congregants, and the board of directors has no fixed place to store the society’s documents.
"The board members wouldn’t have to walk around with the entire paperwork of the Islamic society in a briefcase,” he said.
Whenever the society holds a banquet or special event for more than 25 people, it has to rent a larger space at additional cost, competing with other groups for time at the rented facility on Eastman Street.
"We don’t have to worry about whether they’re having a square dance that night or indoor archery,” he said. "Everything revolves around the landlord, the city of Concord, whether or not they have an event.”
The brick building at 181 N. Main St. – formerly a printing and warehouse facility – is next door to the First Congregational Church, which Mask said is helpful in a number of ways. For one, he said, the church has agreed to let the mosque use its parking lot during busy Friday midday prayers, when the church has little demand for parking and the mosque typically draws more cars than usual.
Mask said the society is also interested in partnering with the church on social assistance efforts.
"As far as getting along with our interfaith neighbors, it’s really good,” he said. "They have really welcomed us.”
He’s hoping the zoning board will be equally amenable when he appears to ask for a handful of variances related to parking and dimensional requirements. The project also needs a conditional-use permit from the planning board.
If the mosque is approved, it’ll bring a conclusion to what Mask said was a two-year "extremely active” search for a permanent home. In some cases, he said, the society offered to buy a property and has been turned down "for whatever reason.”
The property that the society is proposing to buy has been on the market for more than four years, according to a document written by attorney Richard Uchida and filed with the zoning board, and has been used only "sporadically and for short-term uses.”
"This seller has agreed to sell it to us, so we’re extremely happy,” Mask said.
Not only would the mosque be the first permanent institution of its kind in Concord, but Mask said he believes it would be the first Islamic-owned mosque in New Hampshire. Similar groups in Dover, Manchester and Nashua rent their spaces, he said.
While the Manchester group has plans to build its own mosque, it won’t be complete for two to three years, Mask said.
"If the city will approve everything,” he said, "we’ll continue to do whatever they need from us to be good citizens in the Concord community.”
Source: Concord Monitor
