In addition to the 10 Bainbridge Avenue stores that were destroyed in a horrific Oct. 31 blaze, the adjacent Holy Nativity Church was also damaged.
But a $100,000 facelift of the church is nearly complete just in time for its 110th anniversary later this year.
The church suffered extensive smoke and water damage, according to Father Jean Baptiste Kenol Rock.
“You needed a little boat to get back there [to the rear of the church] that was amazing,” Rock said of the flooding after the fire.
The $100,000 insurance payout produced a total restoration of the church’s two prayer areas, and a new gathering area with a kitchen. The church is already in the process of collecting donated items for Haiti’s earthquake victims.
The church, which is Episcopal, rents space to other churches and community-based organizations.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.