As part of their Senior Design Capstone Course, Civil & Environmental Engineering students proposed designs for the current site of the Bethel AME Church in Clinton. 

Founded in 1868, the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, or Bethel AME, played an important role in the Clinton, Iowa community over its 152-year history. Bethel, which means “House of God,” organized as a place of worship for Clinton’s Black and African American community, although the church welcomed parishioners from all walks of life. In 2010, Bethel moved from 303 3^rd Street to 238 4^th Ave, an adjacent property and former home to St. John's Episcopal Church. Forced to close by the Covid pandemic in 2020, Bethel AME was not able to reopen.

A Clinton non-profit The Gateway History Club is taking ownership of the church property on 3rd Street and seeks to make a plan for the site that honors Bethel AME's important legacy in Clinton. The church building itself is in a state of disrepair and will be dismantled. Engineering students conducted a site analysis and proposed designs for the future of the site that incorporate an outdoor gathering space and park. Students worked with community leaders to integrate the historical significance of the church into their proposed site designs. Students incorporated preserved materials and elements from the church into the design.

The design reflects a “present but not” approach, which preserves the presence and spatial memory of the church without reconstructing the full structure, resulting in a balanced solution that maximizes historical impact while maintaining simplicity and long-term sustainability.