Story by Kaitlynn Myers / Inform Muncie
Editor's Note: This story was originally published in November, 2022
Liberty lofts in Muncie, Indiana, was once home to the First Church of Christian Scientist before hosting an LGBTQIA congregation called the Rainbow Cathedral. The historic building of 326 West Charles St. has been called home to many things but is now home to people. Quite literally.
In 2017, the Rainbow Cathedral closed its doors, later to have sold the building to Deb Wise and her husband who took on the challenge of renovating a church into an apartment complex.
“One day we were driving by that building and I saw there was a big ‘For Sale’ sign, and I told my husband who had been a contractor developer for years and years,” states Deb Wise. “ I said that would make a beautiful like condos or apartments or something.”
After purchasing the building, they spent just one year renovating it into the 12 apartments that are there today.
“We tried to maintain as much of the original woodwork and things that we could in the common areas.”
“The church was built in 1929. It has a limestone exterior and, inside, a sanctuary with a balcony. In recent years, the church was the Rainbow Cathedral and home to a predominately gay congregation,” according to a Muncie Stars Press article written in 2017 by Keith Roysdon.
The apartments are the newest version of the church and if history serves, it is not the last version. Having gone through 2 congregations and 2 owners in the 92 years that it has been standing, it has endured all types of weather but if one thing is true, this building will be here for a long time, in one form or another.
All Inform Muncie articles are written by students in the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication in a classroom environment with a faculty advisor.
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