St. Christopher experienced a fire on the morning of December 17 in the attic of the small dining room. While the fire was isolated and extinguished quickly by the rapid response of the St. John’s Fire Department, smoke and soot had spread throughout the attic of the entire kitchen dining room complex, permeating the attic space and the sprayed-in open cell ceiling insulation. As smoke and soot continued to permeate the entire structure through the process of extinguishing the attic fire, all permeable surfaces and items throughout the kitchen and dining room structures seem to have been compromised beyond use. A restoration company has been on site since the day of the fire working to clean and salvage those items that can be saved from the kitchen.
What is known as of today, is that a temporary kitchen will be needed for the foreseeable future, with Susanna’s House serving as the dining room. While some expected guests groups will be impacted by the temporary repurposing of Susanna’s House, the vast majority of all guest groups will simply find themselves eating in a different location with no other impact on their plans.
Restoration and rebuilding plans for the damaged dining room and kitchen remain unknown at this time as we await further evaluations that are underway.
The need of volunteer support for food service, continued prayers and financial support are evermore critical as we launch into this new year of 2022. Contact Rhonda Myers at rmyers@stchristopher.org to volunteer, or contribute online.
