Area fire damaged church up for sale

Expositor Editor

SWANTON – The Holy Place has been without a home since lightening struck its downtown Swanton building last summer causing extensive fire damage. The group has decided not to refurbish the structure and is looking for a buyer of the building on the corner of Lincoln and Church streets.

According to Holy Place organizer Brad Bloomer, the group has decided not to put the money into fixing up the building even though the structure was covered by insurance.

Bloomer said the Holy Place was started to serve as a Friday night supplement to people's home churches. The group would gather for Bible study, praise and worship music and guest speakers.

Bloomer said he and the other organizers were beginning to feel God leading them down a different path for their ministry in the months leading up to the fire.

"We never saw the lightening strike as God's way (of telling us to move on), but there really wasn't a downside for us," Bloomer said. "God will move us on to the next thing He has planned."

He said the group is looking for a person to buy the structure and added the price will be right if the buyer is committed to putting the money into refurbishing the former church.

"We would love to see the building saved," said Bloomer. "We have a lot of good memories and great experiences here."

He said the building has plenty of potential and the group would be willing "to practically give away" the building if the buyer is willing to fix up the structure. If there are no buyers, he said the group will demolish the building.

He said if the building is demolished they would create a green space and sell the land or donate it to the community.

"We didn't feel it was the right thing to do to put that money into an old building with no parking," Bloomer said.

Holy Place was started in 1999 as a way for people of faith to have an additional outlet for their faith besides just Sunday worship at their home churches.

They met on Fridays until the lightning strike last year.

"It was great to see young people get to know Jesus," he said. "We have seen some amazing works that God has done in people's lives. For us, it was a humbling experience."

The fire started when lightning struck the building and spread through the roof. The bell tower had to be taken down due to the fire and most of the building that did not sustain fire damage had extensive water damage.

Ironically, two rooms did not have fire or water damage, Bloomer said. The prayer room and nursery, which had just been remodeled prior to the fire, were the only rooms not damaged.

Persons interested in purchasing the building can contact Bloomer at (419) 385-6604.