Take a look inside Marion church saved from demolition

MARION, Iowa (KCRG) - Marion Methodist Church, the150 year old church in uptown Marion, was meant to be demolished after the Derecho almost five years ago; now it’s a year out from starting its second life.          

The city of Marion had an interest in keeping the iconic property standing and brought on Conlon Construction and High Property Management to preserve the building.

During the derecho the church’s bell, stamped in 1875, fell 80 feet through the church smashing everything in its path. Crews have been working for months to get the old building steady with a third of the project’s $9-10 million budget going toward saving the building.

”Anytime you work on a building that’s as old as this one is and as complex as this one is, you run into challenges,” Darryl High, with High Properties, said. “We’ve run into quite a few challenges, but they’ve overcome them and keep working on it.”

The plan is to install 55 loft units across the 52,000 square foot space. Some apartments will incorporate the original design of the church with some of the units having functional stained glass windows. Bryan Kubik with Conlon Construction is eager to finish the project and says he’s excited to preserve the building’s long history and meet a community need.

”When we lost units in the derecho, there was a strong push by the state of Iowa to try to replace housing units lost in the derecho,” Kubik said. ”I think the stained glass windows are are are an outstanding feature to be able to preserve in this building.”

The city and state came together to preserve the 150 year old building.

”They were interested in this church being saved and I think that was the most important part,” High said. “Now people get to live here and call Bell Tower Lofts home. It’ll continue a second life as a place where people can live and walk to Uptown and participate in all the great things are going on in Marion.”

There is no final timeline for getting the renovations completed, but developers are hoping people can start moving in early next year.