By Staff
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
The congregation at First United Methodist Church of Falkville is looking forward to getting back home in a new building.
A groundbreaking ceremony for a $1.25 million worship facility was conducted on Sunday at the site of the old building, which was destroyed by a fire in December 2006. A representative for the general contractor, Martin and Colby Construction Co. of Athens, said work would commence as soon as he has a contract in hand and is awarded a building permit by the Town of Falkville.
The congregation, which numbers about 300, is currently meeting on Culver Road in a building on loan from First Baptist Church.
The Rev. J. Charles Bowling, interim pastor, conducted the brief ceremony while church members and guests stood under umbrellas and a small tent in a steady rain. Building committee members Ann Vest, Nina Winkles, Dan Higginbotham and Heath Wallace broke ground with gold-colored shovels.
Architect James Candle of NewSouth in Huntsville designed the new church building. It will contain 10,200 square foot of finished space and a roughed-in fellowship hall and kitchen to be completed at a later date. The sanctuary will feature a sloped floor and vaulted ceiling and will seat 205 worshippers. It will also have a sound room, parlor, library pastor’s office and four classrooms.
It will be funded from the insurance money collected on the old building and private donations.