A number of churches across central Ohio have been converted into something else. The former churches include the Bluestone on East Broad Street Downtown, now a special-event and concert space, the Village Bookstore on West Dublin-Granville Road in the Linworth area, and the Frank Museum of Art at Otterbein University in Westerville.

A number of churches across central Ohio have been converted into something else.

The former churches include the Bluestone on East Broad Street Downtown, now a special-event and concert space, the Village Bookstore on West Dublin-Granville Road in the Linworth area, and the Frank Museum of Art at Otterbein University in Westerville.

Even the Refectory, a tony Northwest Side restaurant, once was a church.

So it's interesting, and perhaps appropriate, that a former church in the University District that has been a camera shop for about 35 years is being turned back into a church.

The Columbus Camera Group is moving to Worthington, and the Central Vineyard Church is moving into 55 E. Blake Ave.

"This kind of dropped out of the blue," said Jeffrey Cannell, one of the church's lead pastors.

He said the church had been looking for space - it has been meeting in the old North High School building on Arcadia Avenue - and the realty company it was working with called a couple of months ago with word that the old church was available.

"Within two days, we were in contract," Cannell said. "I'm looking forward to opening the bell tower again."

In fact, his grandfather preached in the church in the 1960s.

Welsh immigrants built the congregational church in the 1890s, when Old North Columbus was a town between Columbus and Worthington, said Doreen Uhas Sauer, a historian who leads the University Area Commission.

Area commission members supported the building's conversion back into a church.

Seth Golding, an area commissioner who lives nearby, said the project will breathe life into that part of the neighborhood. "That stretch of East Avenue (near Blake) has been sort of blighted," he said.

The church sits on a little more than one-third of an acre surrounded by an expansive green lawn and parking lot, an oasis in a densely populated area. The building is among an eclectic mix of student housing, rental homes and owner-occupied houses.

"It's really a crown jewel of the area," Golding said.

The church bought the building for $450,000, said John Hoffman, Columbus Camera's president. "I had other offers," he said, including one potential buyer that wanted to raze the building.

"It's been a beautiful place to work," Hoffman said this week amid the clutter of camera equipment, lights and other items being prepared for the move.

The Columbus Board of Zoning Adjustment approved parking and yard-setback variances for the church this week.

Cannell said his church plans to invest $400,000 to fix up the building. It has raised $100,000 toward that goal.

He hopes the church will be ready for weekend services by fall or early winter, although it will be used for smaller meetings sooner.

mferench@dispatch.com

@MarkFerenchik