Church on school land coming down

After nearly three years, the Cedar Grove-Belgium School District is executing its plan for the former First Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

The shuttered church building is being taken down. The last service was held in spring 2023.

The 100-year-old church on a two-acre parcel is adjacent to the middle and elementary school.

The School Board had met inside the church and the district considered using it to house the Rocket Academy, the district’s public charter school that teaches juniors and seniors skilled trades. The academy at the time was looking for a home and would have loved to have it on campus with all the district’s schools, but decided against using the church given the remodeling work that would have been required.

The academy found its home in a new building in Belgium paid for by former president of Krier Beverage John Rassel.

As the church building is being taken down, Building and Grounds Director Ben Lukens has been handling requests, district Business Manager Tera Rogers told the School Board this month.

“Ben has had some people from the community asking for bricks, asking for certain things. He’s able to fulfill (requests) as necessary,” she said.

That’s the easy part.

“There are some pretty solid steel beams in the steeple that are kind of tricky for them to bring it down,” Rogers said. “But once it does come down, we’ll have a beautiful green space. That’s the plan right now, to fill the hole of the church and make it a green space for our community.”