Taradale church says thanks

Mike Latter, St Columba's Presbyterian Church Taradale manager, with some of those who helped after a recent arson attack. Trevor Beard (back, left), of Crombie Lockwood New Zealand's Insurance Brokers, Richie Richards, CEO of Tech Group, and Les Hunt, of Gleeson Hunt & Associates. Rosemary Hunt (front, left) and Valarie Gabrielle.

Taradale's St Columba's Presbyterian Church has been reborn thanks to the hard work of a number of people.

At a church service and fellowship yesterday those who worked to restore the buildings to their former glory were thanked by the local congregation.

Earlier this year, the church had a fire which caused a considerable amount of smoke damage and left a layer of sooty dust across the pews.

"It was about the rebirth - the fixing up of the fire damage," said church board member Mike Latter.

"We invited anyone who worked on the project to come along just to thank them for the effort they put into restoring the church after fire damage on Good Friday."

Mr Latter said the thank you was received "very, very well".

"I think what we wanted to do was make it a good news insurance job," he said.

"Because they were very, very professional and did a very good job in restoring our buildings to what they were."

The fire at the church in Gloucester St last April was thought by police and firemen to have "smouldered" in a doorway for hours before being discovered by a passerby about 7am.

Mr Latter said then the firefighters brought in a fan to ventilate the building and wiped the seating clean, meaning the service could start on time at 9.30am.

The fire put the Sunday School and a lounge out of action for several months.

However, Mr Latter said now it is "back to business as usual" for the church.