After sitting empty for years, the building at 179 Chapel Drive, formerly occupied by Springs Church, finally has a new owner. Calvary Church has purchased the building and will get possession on September 22nd.
A place to call home
Pastor Rob Belfour says the reason they purchased the new building was not due to lack of room in their current space, but rather as a proactive measure:
"We're actually just leasing the space that we're in right now. And so, we've kind of took on the mission to see if we could make something more permanent for the church so that we didn't have this question looming over us about leases running out someday or what would happen next. And so, we've just been on a journey for about a year to try to figure out where could be a more permanent home for our congregation."
Currently, Calvary Chapel is leasing a space on Main Street, owned by the Steinbach Credit Union. The building started as a bank and was heavily renovated in 2019 in order to suit the needs of the church. Belfour says these renovations suited their congregation well over the past six years.
"We have enjoyed an outstanding relationship with SCU and are deeply grateful for their incredible hospitality, which has allowed us to flourish in their facility."
He notes that, along with owning their own space, another big perk of the new building will be more parking space, which is always at a premium on Main Street. The church currently has shared parking agreements with the city and with SCU but is looking forward to there being less parking pressure on their congregants.
A long road ahead
While they won't be converting their new space from a bank into a church this time, Belfour says that some significant renovations will be needed before they can hold services in the Chapel Drive building.
"The building's got good bones but most of it will need a touch up along the way. [...] The first thing that's going to happen is we're going to get the roof redone and repaired so that it's completely water-tight. And then we've got various phases of upgrades to do from there."
Belfour says the renovations will be completed by a combination of outside companies, and congregants, adding that they have some really great trades people in the church. They do not have a set timeline for completion; however, their first big goal is to have the roof completely redone by the winter.
The plan is to stay
Once renovations are complete, and the congregation is able to start holding services in the new space, their plan is to stay for quite a while. Belfour says they are hoping this will be a more permanent home for the church, and they don't anticipate needing to move again soon. However, he does note with a smile,
"...but life is full of adventures and twists and turns so who knows?"