Construction begins on Knoxville church devastated by fire

By JOSH AULT 6 News Reporter

KNOXVILLE (WATE) - It has been almost two years since a massive fire destroyed a large portion of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Knoxville.

Since that time, church members have been working hard rebuild the church.

Construction has begun, and members are excited to see their church come back to life. Workers have already built the large steel frame for the new building.

"It's like every time I drive by here I see something different being put up," said church member Jeffrey Riddle.

After the fire, a building committee was formed to get the project off the ground. A lot of planning went into making this new sanctuary special.

"It's going to be bigger," said church member Lee Jackson. "It will be in a different direction. The old sanctuary was in a north, south direction and this one is now in an east, west direction."

Drawings have been made to show what the new portion of the church will look like. They are hoping to be in the new sanctuary by 2013.

"We are probably about 16th of the way through," said Jackson. "We are not very far down the road. We are hoping to be finished by summer of next year.

"I'm excited," said Riddle. "I hope the whole church congregation is excited. On that day when we are able to break through those doors what a wonderful joy it will be."

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Construction begins on Knoxville church devastated by fire