Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Make a sustaining gift today to support local journalism!

Group Behind New Concord Mosque Faces Challenges As Project Moves Forward

Samantha Fogel

The Islamic Society of Concord is in the early stages of renovating a building on North Main Street to build the first permanent mosque in Concord.

The society currently rents space in the East Concord Community Center.

Hubert Mask is president of the society.  He explains that space is expensive, there are no offices - and it offers no privacy for prayer.

The group has plans to purchase and renovate a small building in downtown Concord, adjacent to the First Congregational Church.

Mask says he knows they'll face some challenges.

"One of the biggest challenges that I can see, is to convince the community and our immediate neighbors that we want to be good neighbors and participate in a positive manner within the community."

At a city of Concord zoning board meeting Wednesday, members of the Islamic Society faced questions about parking. The group plans to share a lot with the church, and create more parking by purchasing a vacated property nearby. But members of the zoning board were unsure if that was enough and voted to table the application.

Mask says he's working with the city's zoning board and hopes to begin work on the property in August.

Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.