WESTBROOK – With a growing population of more than 16 million members in 201 countries worldwide, it would make sense to see a large headquarters for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Portland and Gorham area, since that’s where the church was founded back in 1863.

Now, they have one, and it’s in Westbrook.

The church closed last Tuesday on the building formerly known as the Warren Memorial Library, buying the 479 Main St. structure for $900,000. The price is a bargain, considering the building initially went on the market in early 2010 for $1.195 million.

“We consider it a gift,” said Randee R. Reynolds, treasurer for the church’s Northern New England Conference.

The church has big plans for the former library, which include a museum chronicling the history of Christianity of all denominations, a new headquarters for the church’s northern New England branch, a Christian bookstore, and services in the building’s 4,500 square-foot auditorium.

Keith Luke, Westbrook’s director of economic and community development, called the church’s plans “fantastic,” and said those uses would fit the building nicely.

“That is a facility that was designed and rebuilt for high-traffic uses,” Luke said.

Until now, the building’s future was far from certain. It served as a private library for the city for more than 130 years, beginning as a library for employees of the S.D. Warren paper mill. In 1929, the Warren Memorial Foundation was established to support education and the arts.

The foundation, which also supported the 14,500-square-foot library, decided to close it in 2009. Board members at the time said that because of the economic downturn, the foundation would deplete its endowment if it kept the library open.

Luke said the building remained a valuable piece of property, but like most real estate in the area, the value had diminished as the economic bubble burst, despite the fact that the foundation sunk $2.5 million worth of renovations into it. The building could have easily sold for several times the current $900,000 price tag just three or four years ago, Luke said.

“I think (the church) got it at an amazing price,” he said.

The Seventh-day Adventists practice a Protestant Christian faith that the Northern New England Conference president, Mike Ortel, described as “middle of the road.” The church adheres to the Bible, perhaps more strictly than more liberal-leaning divisions like the Unitarian Universalists, but, Ortel said, the church is not as strict as other Christian fundamentalist faiths. Like the Jewish faith, Ortel said, the Seventh-day Adventists also consider Saturday, not Sunday, the holy day of the week, and hold services then. The church also believes in living a healthy lifestyle. Ortel said congregants don’t drink, smoke, or use drugs, and many are vegetarians.

The Northern New England Conference covers Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, and has a total of 5,200 members throughout that area. In all, the conference oversees 60 churches, 12 elementary schools, and two high schools spread out over all three states. In addition, the conference maintains a 200-acre seasonal campground in Weld, a newly purchased 54-site campground in Freeport, a 48-unit 55-plus senior housing complex in Brunswick, and the Parkview Adventist Medical Center in Brunswick.

Until now, the conference has managed all that from a single office on Allen Avenue in Portland. Church officials had been looking for more spacious accommodations for some time, according to Reynolds. The initial plan, he said, was to build a new complex in Freeport, but church leaders spotted the listing of the Warren building online, and came to check it out in August.

“When you look at it from the outside, it doesn’t really represent how much building there is,” Reynolds said.

He and other church leaders were impressed, he said, and began negotiations immediately, closing on the property on Sept. 27.

On Wednesday, the building remained empty, with only a few pieces of furniture, but Reynolds said, the church plans to build some walls to convert some of the open space into offices.

In addition to the church’s headquarters, Ortel said, the church also wants to open a museum chronicling the history of Christianity, not just for the Adventists, but for all branches of Christian faith. After all, Ortel said, the Adventist faith is rooted in Lutheran, Methodist, and other Protestant Reformation dogma. A key tenet of the Adventists, he said, is a strong need to remember where they came from.

“We need to highlight some of that in this building, too,” he said.

The museum, he said, would serve in part as a place of Christian education for the general public.

“We would like it to be for everyone,” he said.

Another purpose for the museum, Reynolds said, would be to serve as a focus for Christians who come to the area to learn more about the history of the Adventists. Just last week, he said, three busloads of church leaders from around the world visited the area to study historical sites and learn more about the church’s background, and it is not uncommon to see visitors coming en masse like that.

“We just have not had a place for them to go to get an A-Z look at the church,” he said.

The church has deep roots in Maine and New England, according to the Rev. Arnold Schnell, executive secretary and director of trust services for the Northern New England Conference.

The Adventists’ first official church building was constructed more than a century ago in Washington, N.H., he said. Ellen G. (Harmon) White, who was born in Gorham, and her husband James, born in Palmyra, were the church founders.

“We hope to bring the feeling of some of those places,” Schnell said.

The church also expects to have a Christian bookstore in the building, and to make full use of the auditorium. Right now, the plan is to hold Adventist services there, but, Ortel said, the church may offer the auditorium to other Christian churches for use, as well. Down the road, Ortel said, other public organizations may also be able to use the auditorium.

“The lights ought to be on every day of the week,” he said.

Ortel said he did not know if the Adventists would charge rent to outside groups, but he hopes that won’t be necessary.

“We want to be as altruistic as possible, and as generous as possible,” he said. “We’ve got to give back.”

The church plans to hold an open house in the spring. Reynolds said the public would be welcome, along with members of the Warren Foundation.

“We’re going to invite them and hope to honor them,” Reynolds said.

Rene Daniel, chairman of the foundation’s board of trustees, said he was pleased that the building found a buyer. He met with church leaders prior to the purchase, and said he was excited to see what the church has planned for the space.

“I personally think it’s a real, real, real good fit,” he said.

Luke said the church’s proposed uses would attract people, and therefore new business, to Westbrook, and that’s a very good thing.

“Anything they do that brings people to Westbrook will bring dividends to the city,” he said.