The Taylorville Kiwanis Club heard from one of the co-owners of a new event center in town, at their weekly luncheon Tuesday at the Taylorville Memorial Hospital auditorium.
Jerry Cocagne spoke before the Club about the new Pillars Event Center which he owns with co-owner Kevin Hamell.  The new facility is the former First Baptist Church in Taylorville, first built in 1925 and was added onto in 1959.
Cocagne and Hamell purchased the building at an on-line auction in 2015, as a result of discussions the 2 and their spouses had on a trip to Florida.

They've spent many months remodeling the facility, to turn it into an event center for weddings, family reunions and fund raisers.
Cocagne told the Kiwanis Club that remodeling the building is being done in 3 phases:  The sanctuary and balconies, remodeling the gym and turning it into a wedding chapel, and phase 3 being remodeling the basement that was formerly used as a kitchen and Sunday School rooms.
Cocagne said the former sanctuary remodeling will be completed in time for the center's December events that have already been booked.
The Taylorville Kiwanis Club is part of global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time.  Weekly meetings are held Tuesdays at noon at the Taylorville Memorial Hospital auditorium.  For information on the club, go to taylorvillekiwanis.com.
 

CAPTION TO Kiwanis pix:  Jerry Cocagne (left), co-owner of the new Pillars Event Center in Taylorville, was Tuesday's guest speaker at the weekly meeting of the Taylorville Kiwanis Club.  He was introduced by Club president Will Perkins (right).