QUOTE
Grace Church puts its building up for sale
By Andrew Tallackson, The News-Dispatch
Volunteer Tim Hullinger prepares a cot for the rotating men’s homeless shelter in this photo from January 2003. Hosting the shelter is one of the ways the church has served the community. File photo
Needing a smaller home for its congregation, Grace Church is seeking a buyer for its current site, the former Jefferson School at 2722 Wabash St.
That means the Michigan City Art League, which has rented two classrooms at the church since August 2003, needs a new home as well.
Nothing is final yet on who will buy the building and where Grace Church will relocate, but a decision is expected by mid-March, said Lee Meyer, its music director who has been heavily involved in fund-raising for the congregation. Meyer's wife, Laura, is chairwoman of the church council.
The Meyers stressed that Grace Church is not folding or dissolving, just finding a new home. The non-denominational congregation formed in 1993 and held services at Holiday Inn of Michigan City and the old Canterbury building at Ninth and Franklin streets before arriving at the former Jefferson School.
Lee Meyer described the decision to find a new location as the equivalent of “downsizing.” The size of Grace Church's congregation has decreased, but the remaining members are quite devoted.
“We still have a little body of people,” Lee Meyer said. “We're a mighty little group for all the things we do.”
As for the Michigan City Art League, its spring session with instructors Janet Evans and Rose Petersen begins Tuesday, Feb. 13, and continues for now at Grace Church.
Prior to renting two classrooms there, the league met for 35 years at Barker Mansion, then for a few years at Long Beach Community Center. Celebrating its 75th anniversary, membership fluctuates between 30 and 50 artists, said Mary Bolinger, a league board member and former board president.
The league has explored a few possible sites for a new home, but nothing has materialized yet, Bolinger said. Anyone interested in renting space to the league can call either its president, Jim Schmidt, at 872-7741, or Petersen, its vice president, at (219) 362-4833.
Wherever the league ends up, Bolinger said, it will remain a fixture in the community.
“The league has always been a resilient group,” she said
By Andrew Tallackson, The News-Dispatch
Volunteer Tim Hullinger prepares a cot for the rotating men’s homeless shelter in this photo from January 2003. Hosting the shelter is one of the ways the church has served the community. File photo
Needing a smaller home for its congregation, Grace Church is seeking a buyer for its current site, the former Jefferson School at 2722 Wabash St.
That means the Michigan City Art League, which has rented two classrooms at the church since August 2003, needs a new home as well.
Nothing is final yet on who will buy the building and where Grace Church will relocate, but a decision is expected by mid-March, said Lee Meyer, its music director who has been heavily involved in fund-raising for the congregation. Meyer's wife, Laura, is chairwoman of the church council.
The Meyers stressed that Grace Church is not folding or dissolving, just finding a new home. The non-denominational congregation formed in 1993 and held services at Holiday Inn of Michigan City and the old Canterbury building at Ninth and Franklin streets before arriving at the former Jefferson School.
Lee Meyer described the decision to find a new location as the equivalent of “downsizing.” The size of Grace Church's congregation has decreased, but the remaining members are quite devoted.
“We still have a little body of people,” Lee Meyer said. “We're a mighty little group for all the things we do.”
As for the Michigan City Art League, its spring session with instructors Janet Evans and Rose Petersen begins Tuesday, Feb. 13, and continues for now at Grace Church.
Prior to renting two classrooms there, the league met for 35 years at Barker Mansion, then for a few years at Long Beach Community Center. Celebrating its 75th anniversary, membership fluctuates between 30 and 50 artists, said Mary Bolinger, a league board member and former board president.
The league has explored a few possible sites for a new home, but nothing has materialized yet, Bolinger said. Anyone interested in renting space to the league can call either its president, Jim Schmidt, at 872-7741, or Petersen, its vice president, at (219) 362-4833.
Wherever the league ends up, Bolinger said, it will remain a fixture in the community.
“The league has always been a resilient group,” she said