By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

An 108-year-old church made it safely to its new home at Rock Haven Spa on Monday.

The church was purchased by Dereama Allenbaugh, owner of Rock Haven Spa, to be used as a new facility at the spa southwest of Hays.

Allenbaugh said last week she was told by the movers they were unsure if the historic building would make the 15-mile move.

Kansas Highway Patrol troopers and crews from Midwest Energy were on scene Monday to facilitate the move. The church had to be transported down the Highway 183 Bypass from near the Interstate 70 west exit to its new home.

The church had been a part of a defunct tourist attraction. However, before 1990 it  was the meeting place for a rural congregation in Graham County.

Allenbaugh said the old church has many of its original attributes, including hard-wood floors, a tin ceiling and wooden pews.

However, it has been heavily vandalized over the years.

Allenbuagh hopes to restore the building for use at the spa. She was initially reticent to release plans for the structure for fear the aging building would not survive the move.

According to an employee at Rock Haven, work is underway to place the old church on a permanent foundation that has been built at the spa.