UPDATE: Heritage Lutheran Rebuilds After Gym Roof Collapse

All that remains standing of the gymnasium at in Apple Valley is the one wall adjacent to the rest of the church building, and pieces of the old structure lay sprawled across the property —"a big mess to clean up," said Pastor Karl Anderson.

But while the church's inside is somewhat in disarray as well, the congregation of 250 remains intact and ready to rebuild.

"We'll get it back," said Pastor Karl Anderson. "We just have to be patient."

The roof of the church's gymnasium—built in 2009—, leaving the entire church building temporarily unusable. Nobody was in the building at the time.

"It could've been a lot worse," Anderson said.

Staff said they had noticed cracks in the gym's ceiling and walls and already had scheduled an engineer to check out the structure before the roof fell.

A building committee made up of parishioners will begin meeting next week to find a contractor and begin taking bids for the rebuild, Anderson said. 

"It's a little more difficult than it was before," Anderson said. "But life kind of goes on."

Anderson said he and other church members don't yet know how much it will cost to build a new gym. Engineers still are trying to determine the cause, and he said the matter likely will end up in court, though the church itself is not bringing claims against anyone.

Staff were able to move back into their offices on Feb. 13, Anderson said.

On Feb. 6, service was held in the church parking lot, and the week after was at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Burnsville before the Feb. 20 service was back in the original Heritage Lutheran sanctuary built in 1975, now meeting and office space.

"It was kind of neat in a way, because at one time it was the church," Anderson said.

Right now, the current sanctuary, built in 1995, is usable but is without its old flooring. So is the hallway to the temporary main entrance, which previously was more of a side entrance to offices, Anderson said. Some of the sanctuary walls had water damage and will need to be refinished, he said.

The rooms where 50 preschool and kindergarten students had class still are off-limits, Anderson said, and in the meantime school is held at the just down Johnny Cake Ridge Road.

Anderson said other churches lent space and even made monetary donations. Other community members donated their help and called with well wishes—"people I've never even met before," Anderson said.

"Early on we really had countless offers for help," he said. And as a result of that help, the marquee sign outside Heritage Lutheran reads "We're back! Thank you for your prayers."

Anderson said the church community probably will appreciate the building more when it's put back together. And he said parishioners may have grown to appreciate each other a little more, too.

"I think they're all a little closer," Anderson said.