WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Portland church to rebuild after fire

Portland church to rebuild after fire

By Shayla Reaves - bio | email 

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Fire ripped through the Portland Avenue Presbyterian Church last winter. Now ten months later, the congregation is moving forward with plans to rebuild.

An old grocery store building at the intersection of Portland Avenue and 32nd Street is getting a makeover and the Portland Avenue Presbyterian Church is doing the work.

Reverend Willa Fae Williams discussed the news. "You're sitting in the church, check out the orange lines all around," Williams said of a rectangle spray-painted across the parking lot around the space where members sat. "This is where the church building will be."

It's a new beginning for those who called Portland Avenue Presbyterian Church their own. The historic building stood one block away from the old Kroger building purchased by church officials since the fire on January 16.  "It was one o'clock. My son called me. He said I just heard on the news your church is on fire," Member Margie Yates said.

"It can't be on fire. It was such a devastating thing," Member Betty Temple said.

Already the new building is being transformed with groundbreaking scheduled for next spring. It's 27,000 square feet of space with two-thirds for use by the church and one-third by outreach ministries.

"Our outreach ministry will be able to expand and we'll be able to do so much more for the community," Member Dustin Morganett said.

We're told the new design will also be more accessible than the old one and there's a focus on "going green" in the process.

Work is scheduled to be completed by Easter 2011.

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