FREDONIA, N.Y. (WKBW) — In May of 2018, a fire at Family Church of Fredonia left the 160-year-old building in complete disarray, with a great need for repairs. After 14 months and over $2 million in renovations, the church is closer than ever to reopening as their historic bell tower is being replaced.
The new steeple will come in three seperate sections and take a day to fully install. After the installation, Family Church of Fredonia is hoping to move back into the church by August of this year. According to Pastor Scott Wise, the Fredonia community has been incredibly excited to see the investment done to fix the church.
"Folks have been coming up to us and just thanking us for being stewards of the building basically" Pastor Wise said, "restoring it and not just letting it fall to the wayside because it's a huge part of Fredonia's history. Members of the underground railroad were a part of this church."
Pastor Scott said that the burning of their church, which they purchased just a year before the fire, gave the church a chance to actually renovate a lot, and even put air conditioning into the space.
