Fort Rock was originally named for an unusual rock formation in the woods off of what is now Newfields Road. In early Colonial times, the rocks supposedly served as a staging area for American Indians who sometimes executed nonviolent raids on the town to get food. The rocks became a landmark on the property owned by Ambrose Swasey and his family, and it came to be known as Fort Rock Farm.

Swasey moved the farm from its original location in the woods to its current site by Newfields Road right around the turn of the 20th century, after The Boston and Maine Railroad laid down a set of train tracks that sliced through the property. It has remained there ever since, along with an old white barn and other structures that date back to Colonial times.

Today, Fort Rock Farm is at the center of a debate that has become increasingly heated over the last couple of months. Current property owner Warren Henderson, the great-great-nephew of Ambrose Swasey, hopes to sell the land to St. Michael Parish, enabling the Catholic church to build a new campus with several structures and a parking lot on the property. The church has outgrown its current facilities and has long been searching for a viable place to relocate, and the 53-acre parcel seems like a perfect fit.

But, opponents of the project worry that it will have detrimental effects on the environment, eliminate valuable open space and tarnish a parcel affectionately called “The Gateway of Exeter,” detracting from the town’s historic character.

As the debate brews, project supporters and opponents have coalesced on both sides. A meeting at Exeter Town Hall on Nov. 20 had to be postponed when the facility proved too small to accommodate the sizeable crowd. That same night, parishioners of St. Michael embarked on a candlelight walk from the church’s current location, at the intersection of Front and Lincoln streets, to Town Hall. The meeting was rescheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 12, at Exeter High School.

In the intervening weeks, the issue continued to garner attention. Both sides had hired lawyers, and opponents established a Web site, www.savefortrockfarm.com. Even reputed author and Exeter resident Joe Hill weighed in, contributing an opinion piece to the Portsmouth Herald on Dec. 7.

“The farm is a green gem that forms a part of the emerald necklace strung around the throat of the Squamscott River,” Hill wrote. “St. Michael’s plan to build a megachurch upon the property, complete with a super-sized parking lot and enough Wal-Mart style lighting to blot out the night sky over the river, is, I believe, a misguided idea.”

When the marathon meeting finally took place on Dec. 12, nearly 600 local residents gathered in the Exeter High School gymnasium. The Zoning Board of Adjustment is tasked with deciding whether or not to grant two zoning exceptions and one variance so that St. Michael Parish can legally build an 11-acre church campus at Fort Rock Farm. ZBA chairman Joseph Stone opened the Dec. 12 meeting at 7 p.m. It would not adjourn until about four and a half hours later.

Fort Rock Farm is nestled between the Squamscott River and the 150-acre Henderson-Swasey Town Forest, which is now threaded with scenic mountain biking trails. The property’s history dates back to the early 18th century, and since that time has seen numerous alterations. Warren Henderson is acutely familiar with the property’s rich history, as it has been in his family line for at least six generations. 

Originally a parcel of around 75 acres with about five houses, the land primarily served as housing all the way into the 1980s, Henderson said in a recent interview with The Wire. Members of the Swasey family lived on the farm, as well as farmers, tradesmen, craftsmen and entrepreneurs. Around 1830, Nathaniel Swasey purchased close to 200 acres of pasture and woodland just west of the original property, more than tripling the family’s acreage.

When Nathaniel Swasey died, his nine children inherited the property. One of those children, Ambrose Swasey became a highly successful entrepreneur. He partnered with Worcester Warner to form the Warner & Swasey Co., a manufacturing business that primarily made machine tools. The company moved to Ohio to take advantage of the Midwest’s power-generating rivers, and Swasey became a world-renowned entrepreneur, later manufacturing optic products like telescopes and gun sites. All the while, Swasey maintained a presence in Exeter, moving Fort Rock Farm to the other side of the train tracks around 1900 and helping to develop Swasey Parkway.

Ambrose Swasey moved back to Exeter before he died in the late 1930s (he lived into his 90s) and bequeathed his property to Warren Henderson’s grandparents, Warren and Leona Henderson. The elder Henderson, who had grown up across the street, moved into the property and soon added a new presence to the farm—a herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle. From the early 1940s to the mid-1970s, operations at the farm mainly revolved around raising and breeding cows. The majestic animals, characterized by their broad shoulders and coal-black color, are mentioned in John Irving’s Exeter-based novel, “A Prayer for Owen Meany.”

In 1971, Henderson’s grandparents donated about 150 acres of mostly wooded land to the town, which converted it into a system of popular mountain biking trails. The remaining Fort Rock Farm parcel was about the same size as it had been in Colonial times. When Henderson’s grandparents died, his father and aunt inherited the farm. But neither of them lived on the property, and they had no particular use for the land.

Born in Ohio and raised in Florida, Warren Henderson moved onto the Exeter property with his wife and two children in 1988. Throughout his life, he had spent most of his summers in New Hampshire, and he had always thought of Fort Rock as his family’s home base.

“The farm was sort of the center of our family life,” he said.

But the nine-bedroom house that Henderson’s family then occupied, along with the barn and other buildings on the property, proved to be more than his family required.

“It was a monumental undertaking to try to maintain this place,” Henderson said. “It was way too much for us to manage, so we moved across town to the house we still live in (on Heritage Way).”

One of the buildings on the property was leased to the Montessori School, a private school for kindergarteners and preschoolers. The adjacent field was occasionally used for hay or to grow feed corn, but it remained difficult—and expensive—for Henderson’s family to maintain. The property has now “lived in limbo,” without a specific use, for about 25 years. The family eventually began to wonder whether anyone would ever live on the property again, and the chances seemed increasingly unlikely. Henderson ultimately made the difficult decision to sell.

But, he did not want to sell to just anyone. Henderson had a set of strict criteria for any future owner of the land. He wanted to preserve the Colonial-era buildings on the property, as well as the old stone walls that line the road. He also wanted to preserve a certain amount of open space, which has been a family commitment for several generations. Finally, he wanted the property to be actively used so that it would remain vibrant and not fall into a state of disrepair. St. Michael seemed to fit the bill.

“Selling to St. Michael was my idea. It was an easy one,” Henderson said, noting that everyone involved in the current debate agrees that St. Michael Parish has made positive contributions to the town. “For 150 years, St. Michael has been part of the bedrock, part of the heart of passionate charity work in Exeter.”

The church’s proposal would preserve the existing structures, but add several other construction projects, including a 903-seat cathedral, a parish center with classrooms and offices, a 285-car parking area and, during the second phase of construction, a multipurpose complex. The campus’s total footprint would measure 15,153 square feet, not including the multipurpose center.

The parish hopes to break ground in 2008 and be finished with construction by 2009, just in time to celebrate its 150th anniversary. But, before construction can begin, the church must obtain two exceptions and one variance to town zoning laws. The exceptions would allow a church and a 96-foot steeple to be built in a residential zone. The variance would allow other structures to exceed normal height limits. 

During the meeting at Exeter High School, church supporters wore round, green stickers that said “YES,” with a small cross over the lettering. But a large contingent of opponents also came out, many wearing white T-shirts that read “Save Fort Rock Farm” on the front and “Preserve Exeter’s Gateway” on the back. Opponents say the church campus would infringe upon a 300-foot shoreline protection zone, damage sensitive habitat and develop land that should remain open space.
According to Henderson, about 80 percent of the property would remain open space if the sale goes through. Although some opponents have contended that Ambrose Swasey would not have wanted to see this sort of change on his property, Henderson disagrees.

“The facts are just the opposite. (Swasey) changed every element of his life, including the property and including the town of Exeter. He changed it over and over and over again,” Henderson said. 

After opening remarks at the meeting, the St. Michael team made a detailed presentation of its proposed development. The first person to speak was lawyer Michael Donahue, who is representing the parish. Next up was Henderson, who reviewed the history of the land. Following Henderson, Father Marc B. Drouin spoke. Next came the project’s engineer, an environmental scientist, a traffic analyst, a building architect and a landscape architect. Each representative assured Zoning Board members that the complex would have a minimal impact on the environment, traffic flow and the surrounding community.

Plans for the church campus have already changed several times in response to concerns voiced by the public, according to Paul Young, the director of St. Michael’s Capital Campaign. He believes the plans will probably undergo further modifications if the project moves forward. However, he maintains that Fort Rock Farm is an ideal place for the parish’s headquarters.

“It’s a downtown location, which helps us with our ministry. People can walk to it and access it easily. It’s on a beautiful setting and we’re going to build a beautiful church. It meets a lot of the requirements we’re looking for,” Young said. 

The church team did not expect such an emotional protest from opponents.

“We’re a little surprised. There is still a large majority of people who are very supportive. The size of the opposition is not surprising. The vehemence of their effort and the sophistication of their tactics are a little surprising,” he said.

The opponents’ Web site provides a comprehensive history of the project and the people involved. Several abutters to the property hired a lawyer to represent their concerns, Mark Beliveau, of Pierce Atwood Law Firm in Portsmouth. His remarks began at 10:30 p.m., after the St. Michael team had finished its three-hour presentation and supporters of the project had been given a chance to speak.

Beliveau began by stating how unfair it was that his side had to wait so long before getting an opportunity to speak. He asked that a second meeting be scheduled so that the opposition could speak in full. After deliberating, the ZBA agreed to plow on for another hour and then hold a second meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 15.

Beliveau stated that St. Michael’s proposal includes several “accessory uses,” such as the parish center, parking area and multipurpose complex, which fall outside of the zoning law that permits “church” use in a residential area. Therefore, the applications should be refused, he argued.

“When you add up all the accessory uses, they exceed the square footage of the church,” Beliveau said.

The lawyer also argued that the St. Michael team’s points were not relevant to the ZBA, which must rule on the specific exceptions and variance. Although St. Michael’s contributions to the community are significant, he said, “that is not criteria the Zoning Board can lawfully consider.”

Regardless of whether the church deal goes through, Henderson said his family is definitely going to sell the land. The Montessori School has already been given notice to leave at the end of the school year. Those who are opposed to any kind of change at Fort Rock Farm could face a tough road ahead.

“The bottom line is, this property is going to be sold. That’s not a variable. It’s going to happen,” Henderson said.

Henderson does not feel that selling the property to a land bank would be a good idea, since land banks are not committed to preserving old buildings. Although he is not a man of faith, his wife and children are Catholic, and he believes that faith is important for any community. In St. Michael Parish, he sees an opportunity to keep the property vibrant without sacrificing its historical content.

Project opponents still have a chance to voice their side of the argument. Exeter residents who oppose the development can address the ZBA on Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m. in the Exeter High School gym.