TWR To Celebrate Recovery From Cary Office Fire

Ten months after arson seriously damaged one of TWR’s nerve centers, the international media ministry is ready to rededicate the restored office building to accomplishing the Lord’s work.

A celebration and rededication ceremony has been scheduled for Oct. 11, 2018, at the TWR (Trans World Radio) office in Cary, North Carolina, where an early-morning fire broke out three days before Christmas 2017. No one was injured in the fire, and the ministry’s mission of “speaking hope to the world” pressed ahead with little disruption.

“It’s not often you get to dedicate a building twice,” TWR CEO Lauren Libby said, referring to the initial dedication of the Cary office in 1991. “The first dedication was a special one, and this is even more special because we’re seeing the building be completely renovated. And under very bad circumstances, the Lord has turned this situation into a wonderful thing. So, we get to celebrate what the Lord has done and thank him.”

In addition to a near-total reconstruction of the part of the building rendered unusable by the fire, the lengthy renovation involved extensively cleaning and repainting almost every surface; replacing the smoke-damaged office furniture, all ceiling tiles and carpeting, and the heating and air-conditioning controller; and repairing and upgrading the burglar and fire alarms. Most of the staff had to be relocated for varying periods while the renovation projects unfolded, converting the facility’s auditorium and dining room into busy cubicle farms.

Although most of the cost of the renovation was covered by TWR’s strong insurance policy, an outpouring of generous donations enabled the ministry to meet the deductible and make important upgrades such as with the security system.

“If you stop and think about the number of people who gave and how they gave sacrificially,” Libby said. “I know one organization that wrote a check, and they are really stretched financially, and yet they gave a generous gift. So it was individuals, it was organizations, it was the body of Christ coming together. And we’re just extremely thankful for everyone’s response.”   

Joining Libby and TWR board chairman Thomas J. Lowell for the Oct. 11 celebration will be ministry staff, alumni and supporters; local pastors; Maj. Terry Putman of the Wake County Sheriff’s Department; and two companies, Engine 3 and Ladder 3, from the Cary Fire Department, which extinguished the Dec. 22 blaze.

Also expected to attend are representatives from the Cary Town Council; Belfor Property Restoration, the international corporation that oversaw the recovery process; and Storr Office Environments, a Raleigh contractor that provided and installed the replacement furniture.

After the ceremony, participants will be invited to take a tour of the refreshed facility, including a visit to see the major changes on the third floor. A renovation project largely carried out by TWR Cary’s facility services personnel and volunteers turned storage space into badly needed offices and meeting areas to house the growing ministry’s staff and operations. This space was a separate project not funded by insurance or the gifts of TWR donors.