Burned Bend church cleared to reopen

From Oregon-

Ten months after arson fires tore through Trinity Episcopal Church near downtown Bend, the congregation is set to move back in to its fully repaired church.

The March 6 fires torched both the historic church building on Wall Street and St. Helens Hall, a former Lutheran church located next door that Trinity Episcopal purchased in 2004.

Since then, the church has held services off site, primarily at the St. Francis of Assisi Historic Catholic Church on Franklin Avenue. On Jan. 19, the congregation will hold its first services at a rebuilt St. Helens Hall.

The city did its final inspection of the building Tuesday morning, and within hours church members had arrived to start moving a truck full of new chairs inside.

Though the renovation looks complete at first glance, Senior Warden Pete Lovering said there’s still a lot of small projects that need to be completed before the 19th, including fine-tuning the sound system, installing kickplates on doors, and swapping out the white light switch covers for an almond shade. Later this week, the organ and altar will arrive.

More here-

http://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/1661442-151/burned-bend-church-cleared-to-reopen#