The St. Andrew?s Church hall is to be demolished to build a new six-storey office and commercial building.

But the church will not need to build a new hall, as it already has one built in the 1960s.

The building to be demolished is the old church hall, built sometime around 1910, Rev. Duncan Jeffrey explained. It is currently rented from the church by Furniture Basics. St. Andrew?s current church hall, Astwood Hall, was built in the 1960s, Rev. Jeffrey said. ?The (old) building was constructed in 1910 and is in need of serious repairs,? Rev. Jeffrey said. ?It was badly damaged during Hurricane Fabian.

?We thought we would put up a new office and retail space to keep the church going rather than try to hold together the old building.? The building, which used to house the old Bermuda Grammar School, some of whose students still attend St. Andrew?s, will be demolished sometime in August, Rev. Jeffrey said.

As for when the new building will be complete, he could only say sometime in the next few years. ?We are looking for tenants now. The furniture store is staying in the retail part, but there are three or four floors of office space above that.?