For years I have driven past an empty building on my way into Rockford, and for years I couldn't figure out why it's actually empty.

The building in question is located right next to Faith Center on South Main Street close to the Rockford Airport on your way to Route 2.

It looked like Faith Center had grand plans for the building but something had to happen.

A quick Google search provided some answers. Plain and simple, The Great Recession happened to The Faith Center.

What Happened To Rockford's Faith Center Expansion?
loading...

Turns out The Faith Center ended up filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January of 2012 according to the Rockford Register Star.

RRStar.com goes on to say "The church owes $5.3 million to Sjostrom & Sons in Rockford" and another "4.17 million to Evangelical Christian Credit Union of California."

The church had planned to borrow $15 million to pay for the project and took out a portion of it to get started. Only months later, they were told the Evangelical Christian Credit Union couldn't provide any more cash.

What Happened To Rockford's Faith Center Expansion?
loading...

What stands today next to Faith Center is $5 million worth of work. A skeleton outline of a project that would've cost another $10 million to finish, and by the looks of it, will never see completion.

Nearly 10 years later, the incomplete Faith Center is a daily reminder of the Great Recession and the impact it had on Rockford.

Do you know any more about the Faith Center? Is there any chance the building gets finished? Let us know.

Sweet Lenny is the brand manager of 97ZOK and Operations Manager for Townsquare Media Rockford. Catch him afternoons 3 to 7 on 97ZOK. Follow him on TwitterInstagram and like his page on Facebook.

More From 97 ZOK