First Baptist Church has selected the Beck Group, one of Dallas’ best known design and construction companies, to lead the rebuilding the church’s historic sanctuary after a four-alarm fire destroyed it in July, church officials said.
“Our Planning and Development Committee unanimously chose The Beck Group because of their creativity, their expertise in restoring historic buildings, and their long history with First Baptist Dallas,” Robert Jeffress, the church’s senior pastor, said.
The church worked with the Beck Group on two recent projects, including a $130 million expansion of several of their downtown buildings finished in 2013.
“We are honored to be selected for the restoration of the historic sanctuary and continue our long-standing relationship with First Baptist Dallas,” John Paul DeFrank, managing principal of Beck Architecture and project lead, said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News.
The firm has worked with a number of the area’s largest churches, including The Potter’s House, Prestonwood Baptist Church and Gateway Church, according to the company’s website.
“We’ve heard from many of our young adults that they want to be sure we rebuild the library that was located in the basement area and suffered tremendously from the fire,” Jeffress said. “So we’re looking at how to rebuild that library and perhaps put it in an even more convenient location.”
On the evening of July 19, a four-alarm fire destroyed the 134-year-old historic sanctuary of the church.
In the aftermath, First Baptist Dallas received approval from the city to try to preserve the exterior walls of its secondary chapel after it was severely damaged in the fire, the church announced in a video posted online.
“I can make no guarantees about how that work will go or even if it will be successful, but we do have approval to try,” executive pastor Ben Lovvorn said at the time.
Firefighters say the fire started in the building’s basement. The downtown chapel served as the church’s primary place of worship for over a century until First Baptist opened a new facility in 2013.
First Baptist Dallas started in 1868 with just three men and eight women, according to a story by The News on its 150th anniversary. The church, which now has about 16,000 members, was called the Notre Dame of the Southern Baptist Convention by the newly elected president of the denomination shortly after the fire.
Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.
