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Macon woman strives to revive historic Pleasant Hill church

Tonja Khabir says it'll feature three studio apartments and an upstairs community collaboration space.

MACON, Ga. — A historic church in Macon's Pleasant Hill neighborhood could soon get some much-needed TLC. That's if Tonja Khabir gets her wish.

Khabir says she's trying to save the church because over the years, it's already inspired so many people. She hopes her renovation will keep it in tip-top shape for the next generation.

High on a hill overlooking Jefferson Street, there's a church. The former First Congregational Church, to be exact. Built in 1917, its vine-clad walls have seen countless stories unfold, and countless changes to Pleasant Hill. They've even seen changes to the church itself.

"It was also adopted by the Booker T. Washington Center here, and became the Bobby Jones Performing Arts Center back in the 1990s," Khabir said.

From the time the congregation left until a few years ago, those walls saw dozens of dancers take the stage. According to Historic Macon, the Booker T. Washington Center closed the building after some necessary repairs became too costly.

So Khabir, a sort of neighborhood cheerleader, stepped in. Khabir closed on the church Wednesday, and plans to renovate it.

"We've been working for the last four years to find a way to really save this place," she said.

Those plans are a complete overhaul, including cleaning up the outside and adding a community collaboration space upstairs.

"Studio apartments which will go in the downstairs as well," Khabir added.

And of course, the arts will have a prominent place in the new project.

"We have a huge arts culture in Pleasant Hill and of course in Macon-Bibb County," Khabir said. "Colleagues and friends who are musicians, and performing artists. And we've always imagined them as a part of this next new chapter as well."

It's a new chapter Khabir hopes will keep the walls up, watching more stories unfold for decades to come.

"Continue its legacy and bring it back in a new form, in a new way, so it can continue to like, inspire others," Khabir said.

She plans to open the space within the next couple of years. Khabir's next step is meeting with a designer to put the plans on paper.

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