Church undergoes major renovations after fire

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (WXYZ) - Ten years after a fire ravished the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, its elegance hasn’t just been restored, it’s been improved.

After the fire in 2002, the St. Clair Shores church made repairs, but its walls were bare.

In 2006 it launched a project, hiring master iconographer Vlasios Tsotsonis from Greece.

During a three month span in 2009, he painted the alter. He returned in September 2012 to complete the solea. The church expects him to come back in 2014 and complete the dome.

Father Michael Varlamos translated Tsotsonis’ Greek for 7 Action News.

“His hope is that when people walk into this church, they will feel they are embraced by God,” said Varlamos for Tsotsonis.