Rebuilding to Begin on Church Destroyed By Fire
Wednesday, Sep 5, 2012 | Updated 10:21 AM EDT
On New Year's night, the Somers Congregational United Church went up in flames.
The late-night fire destroyed the 170-year-old Meeting House and fire crews from Somers and several surrounding towns responded.
Investigators called the fire suspicious.
On the day after the fire, a prayer service was held and Rev. Dr. Barry Cass said the church would rebuild.
A building committee has been meeting since soon after the vigil and the Simsbury architectural firm Clohessy, Harris & Kaiser, LLC and Petra Construction of North Naven have been chosen for the project.
Restoration work has been ongoing on the portion of the church facility that sustained water and smoke damage, according to church officials.
The Bugbee Center, which housed the Sunday School and the Somers Cooperative Preschool, reopened and the office wing of the facility is scheduled to reopen in mid-October.
At 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 23, a ground-breaking celebration will be held at the Meeting House site, 599 Main Street in Somers and the community is invited to attend.
