PARACHUTE — To Cindy George, nothing in particular stands out about the 110-year-old Grand Valley Christian Church.

Nothing, that is, except the fact it’s 110 years old.

To George and others on the church’s Raising the Roof committee, that’s plenty of reason to be working on its restoration.

“If we don’t get this church restored, we’re not going to have a church,” she said. “And I think it’s a big issue. We’re going to lose a historic building.”

Not if the committee can help it. The group is applying for the church’s inclusion on state and federal historical registers, so it can tap restoration grants that go along with such designations. It already has raised about $15,000 for restoration and is applying for an initial grant of $10,000 to $15,000 to pay for a thorough assessment of the work needing to be done.

In a nutshell, George said, that work will consist of fixing a sagging roof that has rafters that aren’t tied to anything, and is weighed down by layers of shingles added over the decades. The roof has pushed out the walls to the point that on one side, the wall extends out a foot farther at the top than the bottom. Cables have been installed inside the building to hold the walls in so the roof doesn’t collapse.

George said the most descriptive thing that can be said about the church is that it is nondescript. It’s white and rectangular, with a bell tower and double doors in front.

“It’s the plainest little church you’ve ever seen,” she said.

But its history is interesting. The story goes that the town’s founder, J.B. Hurlburt, became disenchanted with the Methodist Church and agreed to donate to the Grand Valley Christian Church’s construction as long as the congregation agreed to never serve liquor in the church.

“And they haven’t,” George said.

The church sits at 116 W. Second St., in Parachute’s historic district and across from the town’s old high school. It long was a community meeting place, George said.

It holds about 50 people, and that’s the size of its congregation.

“Many of them are elderly folks and have attended that church for a long, long time,” she said.

With the energy industry booming in the Parachute area and the town changing fast, it’s comforting to see something that’s been there for everyone’s entire lives, and it’s important to preserve it, George said.

If the church can receive historical preservation grants, it will need to come up with 25 percent in matching funds, George said.

The church also wants to do some paving and landscaping work and build an addition onto the back of the building. The addition is allowable under historical preservation guidelines if it is done in the right way, George said.

She said the church also will incorporate green construction practices to the degree that it can afford to do so and still comply with historical preservation standards.

It also plans to unearth a baptismal font that had been buried under the pulpit because groundwater had been leaking into it.

The church is still looking to add restoration committee members. Interested people may call pastor Lois Smith at 970-285-7597.

The church also is asking for people to recount their memories about the church. Besides being fun to hear, such stories can help the church in putting together information about its history, which will boost its chances for historical register designation.

The church is planning to mark its 110th year on June 29 with an ice cream social and gospel concert under a tent in its yard.

The previous day, it plans to host an event that has yet to be finalized, but it will tie in with that day’s Parachute all-class reunion, which will help kick off the town’s 100th anniversary celebration.

The church also expects to participate this summer in other events commemorating the town’s centennial.