Grace Baptist Academy ready to rebuild after Easter Tornadoes

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn (WDEF) – It’s been 10 months since Grace Baptist Academy became the target of destruction after tornadoes ripped through the Community in late April. 

Since then, the school has been working on the demolition of the damaged buildings knowing they’d have to start from scratch.

“Since the beginning of 1985 when this school started. It’s over 35 years now and it’s all gone. When we begin to see the beginning of the future, perhaps we might say the next 35 years oh wow the enthusiasm begins to come through our entire school,” says Matthew Pollock, Grace Baptist Academy. 

Grace Academy has been housed inside Morris Hill Baptist Church since the tornadoes happened.

The school says they have set their eyes on reopening sometime in the year 2022.

“As far as building, we are talking about 150,000 square feet of building that has to be reconstructed. The opportunities before us are to basically start from scratch. We have literally been scratching the dirt for the past few months preparing for an entirely new complex. It will look nothing like it once did. We are able to completely redesign our campus,” says Pollock.

The school says that although this year has been difficult on the students and faculty, everyone is pushing through and is excited for the future. 

“Challenges stretch us; they are about growth and development . We want it to be simple and please don’t give me any disruption but the truth is when our life is disrupted and gets difficult,  we can actually grow. Our students are growing, they are not falling behind,” says Pollock.

If you would like to donate to the rebuilding process look for the link here.