Church Closes After Discovering 2 Sinkholes Underneath Building

A Florida church has closed indefinitely following the discovery of two sinkholes beneath its property.

Engineers responsible for remodeling the building discovered two sinkholes, one under the parsonage and another near the sanctuary at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tarpon Springs.

The Rev. Don Rollins, who only moved to Florida several months ago, said that coming from Oregon, he had little experience with these natural occurrences, which are common in his new home.

"This is all new, man," he told The Tampa Bay Times.

Ann Rainey, president of the church's board of trustees, added said that although the building has had to shut down, the experience has actually helped the 80-member congregation build a stronger sense of community with each other.

"This is our spiritual home. You feel like your family has this problem and everyone is pulling together," Rainey said.

This sentiment was also reinforced on the church's website, which thanked attendees for "pulling together during this adventure," and also directed them to its temporary location at a nearby Elks Lodge.

Church leaders believe that insurance will cover most of the damage, which may cost as much as $1 million.

The building, which has existed since 1909, contains the artwork of 20th century painter George Inness Jr., who attended the church. While the paintings have stayed inside the church since the engineers shutdown the building, "plans have been made to move the Inness Jr. Paintings to a secure, vault-type location during the building repair process," stated the website.