Legacy Owensboro Church to take over current Malco location

September 28, 2018 | 3:01 am

Updated September 27, 2018 | 7:02 pm

Photo by AP Imagery

After two years of searching for a new location, Legacy Owensboro Church finally found what they were looking for. To accommodate the church’s growing numbers, Legacy needed more space, and they found plenty of that in the current Malco Owensboro Cinema location.

Malco’s property has been on the market through Gulfstream Commercial Services, and the company says they are excited to see Legacy find a location that suits their needs.

“We’re waiting on Malco to complete renovations on their new space, and the church can move in,” said Ed Ray, Chief Operating Officer of Gulfstream Commercial Services.

Ray says the purchase agreement with Legacy has been signed, and confirmed that the due diligence period has expired.

Legacy Owensboro’s pastor, Jeff Phillips, says the church has signed their letter of intent and is ready to renovate the space. The only thing Phillips is waiting on is the go-ahead from Malco.

“They intend to be done by the first of the year,” Phillips says of Malco’s operations at the current facility. “Once they’re done, we have a 30-day period to close. We’re looking at early 2019.”

The future for Legacy Owensboro, which is currently located at 3300 Frederica St., will include 50,000 sq. feet of space which the church plans to fully utilize. Phillips says the renovation process will take part in two phases.

“Phase one, we’ll focus on the exterior of the building, our temporary sanctuary, our kids ministry, and a lobby renovation,” Phillips says. “Phase 2 will involve our permanent sanctuary. The kids ministry will be a permanent set-up and our first priority.”

Phillips plans to use Malco’s largest theatre as a temporary sanctuary, which seats 300 people. Once phase 2 has been implemented, Phillips has plans for a permanent sanctuary that seats between 1,000 and 1,200. As of now, Legacy Owensboro has between 600 and 700 attendees on the average Sunday.

Space — above all else — was what drew Phillips to the south Frederica location. Boasting 10.5 acres and 600 parking spots, there should be plenty of room to accommodate the growing church, but finding a space that hit all the marks was a tumultuous process at times.

“If you find the space, you don’t have the parking. If you find the parking, you don’t have the space,” Phillips said. “People mentioned that maybe we should look at spaces out in the county. But we’re a city church. We feel like we’re supposed to be in the city.”

Malco Owensboro’s new location is still under construction as part of the developing Gateway Commons shopping and entertainment center.

 

September 28, 2018 | 3:01 am

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