Circus May Be Coming To Natick Church

NATICK, MA — A long-vacant church along Eliot Street in Natick may soon be home to an acrobatics and circus arts school.

Jacob Skeffington, co-founder of Eastern Acrobatics and Circus school, appeared before the Planning Board last week to describe his plans for the church, which has been unsuccessfully targeted for residential development in the past.

Plans for the church call for the main sanctuary area to be used as the instructional space, plus two dance classrooms in the basement. The basement would also be renovated into a residence for Skeffington.

Eastern Acrobatics is based inside the Elite Gymnastics school, located along Eliot Street in Ashland. Skeffington said he's running out of space in Ashland, necessitating the Natick move. The school would accommodate a maximum of about 45 students and instructors at a time, according to plans.

Skeffington purchased the former church last summer and has been renovating the interior ever since. He plans to renovate the exterior too, keeping the façade historically accurate.

A public hearing on the acrobatics school was held Aug. 11 before the Planning Board, which voted to hold a hearing to approve the plans on Sept. 1.

"Acrobatics is a great community building activity," Skeffington told the Planning Board last week. "People love to do it, people love to watch it."