Twain may have never visited the First Presbyterian Church in Carson City, whose roof he financed. (The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford, Conn.)

A Nevada parish wants to tear down a church that Samuel Clemens raised money to build so that it can construct a new one.

The First Presbyterian Church in Carson City is one of three remaining structures in the state with ties to Clemens, who worked at a Virginia City newspaper from 1861 to 1864. Completed in 1864 with $200 from Clemens' first paid lecture, the church has been closed since 2001.

The church's building committee, which wants to construct a new 9,000-square-foot church, applied for a demolition permit on Jan. 12. The city's historic resources commission, however, put the application on hold until the church follows a city ordinance that requires proof that there is no feasible alternative to demolition. It must hire an engineer with a preservation background to conduct an assessment of the building.

"Nobody wants to burden the church," says Guy Rocha, state archivist. "What we're saying is that we'll help identify the costs, and we'll help identify where we get the money [for restoration]."

The church may need another big name to raise money to save it, but its pastor, Bruce Kochsmeier, refuses to accept donations toward the building's preservation. According to a study by Reno-based Hyytinen Engineering, restoration will cost between $4 and $5 million. "We can't do it fiscally," Kochsmeier told the Nevada Appeal. "We won't ask our parishioners or this community to support a project that costs more than it has to." A new facility would cost $2 million.

Church advocates want the parish to incorporate the oldest part of the church into its new building. "When people make the pilgrimage to Nevada and Carson City, there are two [Twain-related] structures here in this town," Rocha says. "This town, as it looks to its future, it's going to be about history here. I keep saying, 'Yeah, but what are you doing with your inventory?'"

Twain brother Orion Clemens' house in Carson City, a private residence, is still standing. (The state's third Twain site is Theodore Winters' ranch, located north of Carson City, where Twain attended a party.)

The Twain connection aside, the building is significant simply because of its age, says Bert Bedeau, an architectural historian and member of Preserve Nevada. "There are very few structures in Nevada that are associated with the territorial period. It's one of the earliest standing structures we have."

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