What’s the color of history?

WARWICK — Christ Episcopal Church has received a $1,500 grant from the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s Sacred Sites Program to be used toward payment of a historic color study to be done on the church.

Field samples were recently taken from the buildings exterior wooden surfaces by Mary Kay Judy, an independent contractor well-versed in historic preservation.

This color analysis will help the church to determine which colors were used in the original color scheme of the exterior of the church.

It is the first step toward the future removal of all of the aluminum siding that covered the old building in 1979, and the restoration of the church to its 1866 design, thus allowing it to fit back into its historic Victorian neighborhood of South Street in Warwick.

The process will take about three years.

“Since its inception, the Sacred Sites Program has assisted over 1,100 religious institutions with outreach services and technical advice, Peg Breen, the conservancy’s president said in a press release announcing the grant. “The 155-year-old Christ Church joins the more than 670 houses of worship throughout New York State that have received nearly $7.3 million in grants from the Sacred Sites Fund, supporting nearly $530 million in restoration and repair projects in the state. The Sacred Sites program has provided their services and support to over 1,100 individual religious institutions.”