Northstar Church reopening after almost four years. Take a look at the rebuilt facility.
PANAMA CITY — The journey to reopen has been long for Northstar Church of Panama City as the rebuilding process from Hurricane Michael took almost four years.
Northstar will relaunch services July 10 and open its redesigned state-of-the-art facility at 2440 St. Andrews Blvd., at the corner of State 390 and 23rd Street.
Lead pastor Marty Martin said he looks forward to serving the community through the church's revival. Until September, the services will focus on special topics of building a better future with hopes to steer the community into a joyous revival following the historic hurricane.
“We can finally say, ‘Welcome home,’ because we know the community will look forward to having a place to come home to,” Martin said.
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Joining the remodeled location for its first service are the former Panama City Beach and Callaway Northstar campuses, allowing the church to reopen as one campus with new service times at 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Plans are in the works to transition the Callaway location into a community center.
The journey to rebuild
For the past three and a half years, the church has held services at Mosley High School's Fine Arts Center in Lynn Haven. The Northstar campuses saw about $9.5 million in total damage from Hurricane Michael, with $7 million in damage at the 23rd Street location.
During the long journey back, Martin and his team had in lesson in patience while learning how to rebuild and meet the community's needs to where Northstar could continue to serve them.
“We wanted to do it differently and more than it was before,” Martin said. “We did it this way because we want to help the community in the best way we can.”
The first projected reopening date was in 2021 but was pushed back several times because of the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues.
A look into what’s new
Martin said the church was redesigned with the community in mind.
“It has always been about the community for us and we wanted to create a building that the community could use to make a difference,” Martin said, noting the church will be available to use seven days a week.
With everything brought up to the latest codes and standards, the church features an expanded lobby designed as a hangout space for more interactions with family and friends.
To keep the indoor space as safe as possible, developers installed a high-intensity UV lighting system that eliminates pathogens from the air and reduces the likelihood of spreading viruses through the air systems.
In addition, the exterior presents a waterfall feature with a baptistry, a stage for outdoor concerts, food truck hookups for fellowship events and more. Also added during the remodel is an indoor play facility for children, the upgraded Northstar Kids academy and The Drip Café, a standalone business that operates inside the church.
Focusing on the long term, Martin said Northstar officials hope to grow the church's outreach. He said the primary goal is to bring the community together while using the rebuilt facility on a regular basis. In addition, Northstar Church is planning a grand opening celebration in the fall.
Northstar Church was formed in Bay County in 1998, holding its initial services at Tommy Smith Elementary School. Eventually moving into its current building in 2007 and opening two additional campuses in 2014, Northstar has sustained a growing fellowship of almost 3,000 attendees.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Northstar Church of Panama City reopening doors after almost 4 years
