Visitors belly up to the bar in lobby of New City Church in a renovated historic power station

Walking through the front door of New City Church you get the first clue of the building’s interesting past.

A towering bar built of dark wood and mirrors anchors the left wall.

Coffee mugs, candles and books have replaced liquor bottles once on the shelves of the old nightclub.

A glance upward in the lobby gives another hint at the building’s history.

Steel beams on the high ceiling date back to the building’s 1915 origin as a power station for Macon Railway & Light Co.

The beams held hoists to lift trolley cars a century ago.

Large windows harken back to the days before air conditioning.

The two-story brick building now has been born again — as a house of worship.

Sunday, visitors are invited to celebrate New City Church’s grand opening at 1015 Riverside Drive, not far from the intersection of Spring Street.

Pastor Keith Watson’s multicultural congregation originally met at the Cox Capitol Theatre in 2008.

Looking for space for children’s ministries, the church developed the 567 Center for Renewal arts incubator in the old R.S. Thorpe & Son’s clothing store on Cherry Street.

As the congregation reached more than 500 people, growing pains set in again as their available space was shrinking.

More than a year ago, as Creek Media was planning to open a radio station on the second floor of the 567 Center at 533 Cherry Street, Watson learned the old Power Station nightclub building was going on the market.

“When I walked through the building the first time, I felt like it was already set up for what we would do as a church. It would fit perfectly,” Watson said as he prepared for Sunday’s grand opening.

The restoration fits the congregation’s vision taken from Romans: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed …”

Work began March 12, 2016, as church members began gutting the building which had been boarded up and vacant for years.

“(We) started from scratch just using the bones of the building and the structure, beautiful building, that we tried to keep as much of that and the original architecture as we could,” Watson said.

The church bought the nearly 14,000 square-foot space for $300,000 and planned to put about that much into the restoration.

“It wound up being about three times more than we budgeted,” said Watson, who had to rewire and put in a new fire alarm system, among other things.

Water damage had taken its toll.

When they explored the downstairs kitchen, a snake slithered across the floor.

“I don’t like snakes,” Watson said during a recent tour of the basement that now serves as children’s classrooms and nursery.

Finishing touches are planned to enhance the decor of the kids area.

“Each one of those rooms will have a city theme, like city park, city zoo,” Watson said.

New mothers have a cozy, sunlit spot to nurse their babies in a secluded area on the main floor.

The brick interior walls give an urban industrial feel to the worship hall on that first floor.

What was once for bands and dancing is now for preaching and singing, Watson said.

Upstairs, a U-shaped balcony with another recycled bar and round tables allows for extra seating.

A smaller bar area on the second floor was converted to pastoral offices and bathrooms.

New retro-looking lighting fixtures and a wooden mantel maintain the rustic atmosphere.

Watson is particularly pleased with two wooden doors leading to the worship center.

He had priced similarly distressed paneled doors and learned “they’re expensive,” he said.

They were donated to the church after an outdoor wedding where they were propped up to shield the bride before her entrance.

Paint has chipped over time to expose the wood in some nooks and crannies.

“I’m going to sand and paint those doors Sunday,” a church member told him.

“Please don’t,” the pastor replied.

Another church member had already sealed them to preserve their rugged state.

For now, the building has plenty of room for the current congregation of young families and space for future expansion in an adjoining addition that Watson refers to as “Phase 2.”

Everyone is invited to tour the building Sunday morning, which Watson said marks the one-year anniversary of the first work day.

“We’re going to have the building open, coffee made at 10, so come and see the building and do a walk through.”

This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Visitors belly up to the bar in lobby of New City Church in a renovated historic power station."