GROCERY BUILDING TO BECOME CHURCH

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The former Fischer's Market, a neighborhood grocery store for 50 years, is being converted to a church.

The building, located at the corner of North West End Boulevard and Harmony Street, has been unused for almost four years since the grocery closed.

The Cornerstone Assembly, an independent Pentecostal group, bought the property from J. Ronald Fischer.

"We have been in existence since Jan. 1," said Lonnie Hasty, president of the board of deacons. "We have been meeting at my house at 3701 Hopper Road since then." He estimates the size of the congregation to be 35 to 40 members.

They are in the process of bringing in a pastor to serve the congregation.

They hope to occupy the building in four weeks. The group is renovating and remodeling the first floor for church-related uses. The five apartments on the upper two floors are being retained for now.

Fischer's father, Arthur M. Fischer, established the grocery business in 1936. The former house was converted to grocery store use, and then was remodeled and additions were added over the years.