 |
| Why not pose with me for a FB photo? |
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=blogs04&plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&U=9a8980f0-f726-439c-8c4e-1dc0f788941e&plckPostId=Blog%3a9a8980f0-f726-439c-8c4e-1dc0f788941ePost%3a3cf6aac3-07b0-4680-896f-c0c7cba770ba&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest
Reader question: I have driven past Revolution on Franklin Street a couple times recently and noticed that the “available” sign is down. Did somebody lease finally lease the building and what is going to be in there?
Answer: That vacant building at 222 W. Franklin St., at the corner of Superior Street in Appleton, was purchased in a deal that closed Friday.
The new owner is The Core, a church group that previously held services in the former Big Picture theater and then the OuterEdge Stage in downtown Appleton.
The Core is an outreach ministry of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Freedom.
“We’re not a standalone congregation. We’re a second campus,” said campus pastor Jim Skorzewski, who is known as Pastor Ski. “The Revolution building fell into our lap. It’s been a blessing.”
His congregation tends to be on the young side, mostly under age 35. Worship includes live bands. The Core will continue to hold its Sunday evening worship services at OuterEdge until this building is ready in September.
“We were never looking for a building, but we we’re always looking for a building,” he said. “We didn’t want to be a church that gets a building and then its vision and mission fall to the back burner because everything turns into paying the mortgage. We wanted to put our dollars into
 |
| WELS members - you gave them a grant and a loan to buy this bar. Ask Keith Free and Mark Schroeder about their use and abuse of your offering money. Another WELS congregation is several blocks away. |
Online, real estate listings show the asking price was $850,000. Outagamie County records listed its 2011 fair market value at about $523,000.
“We paid closer to fair market value,” said Jeff Ulman, a member of the church’s executive committee. “George Karl worked with us and helped us out extensively.”
George Karl, head coach of the Denver Nuggets and former coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, owned the building.
The purchase was handled through a church extension fund, said Skorzewski.
“We received a wonderful grant and loan from WELS, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Our remodeling was covered by the loan from WELS.”
Church volunteers are already inside working on the renovation. The church draws about 250 people on a typical Sunday.
Revolution was the last nightclub that operated in the Franklin Street building. It was open for about six months, until July 2010. Prior to that, the club had been opened and closed by several operators under the names Tom’s Garage, The Garage and Pulse Nightclub.
Skorzewski said the church would not keep the full liquor license that went with the building. If they chose to host wedding receptions in the building in the future, he said they would apply for a beer and wine license.
This is at least the fourth building in the Fox Cities to be converted from a business into a church in recent years, including structures that previously housed the Vineyard (now Living Faith), SK Flooring (now the Mission Church) and Big Picture (now Christ's Church of the Valley).
Note that in the printed version of this story in The Post-Crescent, the church in the Big Picture was incorrect. It is correct above.
---
Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Stinky Old Bar Sold for $500-850,000! Savoy, Illin...":
Multiple choice question:
Which "church" is Lutheran?
- Living Faith
- Mission Church
- The Core
- Christ's Church of the Valley
Answer:... wait for it....wait for it....
