Open house celebrates church renovation

The Hope Pointe Community Church (the Church of the Nazarene congregation) held an open house this past Saturday now that hail damage repairs and renovations to the building are largely completed.

The open house featured local choirs, vendors, children's crafts and products from Ten Thousand Villages, a non-profit fair trade group that markets products made by disadvantaged people from around the world.

The church, located at 5402 43 St., was pounded by a hailstorm that hit Olds on July 28 last year.

"Basically, a lot of the (hail) went all through the roof, so we need a new roof. And then the rainwater went in, so it flooded all of the main areas, except the sanctuary," pastor Darlene Hyatt said during an interview with the Albertan last year.

This past week, she was pleased with all that's been done. The building has been repaired, except for some exterior work, including a damaged overhang. That's expected to be completed in the spring.

Church officials and contractors took advantage of the situation to make some improvements as well.

"Our kitchen just used to have one wall of cabinetry, which really wasn't very much, and now it is completely wrapped all the way around, so we have three times the cabinets we had. We now have a dishwasher, which we didn't have. It's all stainless steel countertops; it's just really lovely," Hyatt said.

Work on the project began July 29, the day after the storm.

While the renovations were undertaken, the congregation met at the Olds United Church and groups which used to utilize church space met elsewhere. Hyatt is very grateful to the United Church and St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church, which also offered its space.

Things went so well the Hope Pointe congregation was able to hold its Christmas Eve service back in their home church.

"I mean, the last little while is always tricky and it was over Christmas, but it's really coming together really well. The building's fantastic," Hyatt said. "They've done a really, really good job."