ORLANDO, Fla. — Progress is being made towards rebuilding the Incarnation Catholic Church in the College Park neighborhood after they were the victims of two fires in just under a year and a half.

Church leaders say both incidents are still under investigation, however demolition is underway as they look towards plans for a new beginning.

As the sounds of demolition fill Edgewater Drive, it brings up mixed emotions for Father William Holiday.

He’s spent 12 years as the pastor of Incarnation Catholic Church and these last 16 months have been difficult for him.

“It’s been sort of, sort of like a bad memory to come out and look at it,” said Holiday, looking at the piles of rubble. “You either fight or you surrender and our fight is building up the church better than it was before the damage, so that’s how we win.”

Since that fire, Father Holiday has been holding mass in the church’s social hall right next door, but there was just another fire set at the altar there on Oct. 16.

While the damage is visible, Holiday is glad it was not worse.

“We had three sprinkler heads pop, and they ran for the better part of 30 minutes,” said Holiday. “So you do the math on that, that’s a whole lot of water.”

While that fire is also now under investigation, he is choosing to look towards the future.

The new $5.7 million dollar church will be double the former’s size and will also have several things the old church did not like: restrooms, a built-in confessional and a cry room for children.

It will also have sprinklers and a security system.

“You know, because of our experience, we will ensure that it is top-notch,” said Holiday.

Father Holiday shared that while these fires changed their plans for the future of this parish, they are making the best of it.

“You get a horrible event, like an arson, somebody intentionally comes in and destroys things,” said Holiday. “Their purpose is destruction of what you have and we’re going to build back something that’s much larger, newer, better. Every cloud has its silver lining.”

Church leaders shared they have $3.7 million on hand for the project, with new donations big and small coming every day.

They also secured a $2 million loan that they plan to pay off in about eight years.

Father Holiday hopes to hold the first mass inside the new church in June 2026.

More renderings of the new church can be found in the gallery below: