Trying to find my favorite building designed by E.L. Malvaney did send me back through my archives looking at some clippings related to his various firms. On Christmas day in 1955, the New Orleans Times-Picayune ran a photostat of a rendering and caption titled Work Begins Immediately on Byram Church.
A UNIQUE CHURCH DESIGN with an educational department and a sanctuary is slated for Byram, Miss. It will offer triangular forms in both horizontal and vertical planes and a bell tower of open construction with plastic panels. Work will begin immediately on the educational department, which when completed, will contain about 12,000 square feet. The sanctuary will seat 300 persons. E.L. Malvaney and Associates of Jackson, Miss., are architects and engineers [of the project].
The church in question appears to be the First Baptist Church on Siwell Road in Byram. Comparing the building today with the rendering from 1955, there were some changes from the original design, most notably the use of a red brick over a lighter color brick. What other differences do you see?
I am glad to see that even though the congregation has a new sanctuary, they still have kept up this building after more than 60 years.
They use much of the old sanctuary as the choir room. You can still see the baptistry. It’s fun to see the inside and imagine what it was like new.
Thank you for letting us know it still is put to good use.