PALM COAST — In the heart of the oldest section of Palm Coast, hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses regularly converge for advanced Bible study.
What was once a facility for students learning how to work inside an air-traffic control tower is now a center for study run by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses own and occupy the former Federal Aviation Administration training center, a building that remained vacant for about 18 months before the new owners started moving in last summer.
The School for Kingdom Evangelizers classes require students to stay for two months at a time and some of them travel from such faraway places as Alaska and Maine, according to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. That means more visitors come to see what Palm Coast and Flagler County offer, city spokeswoman Cindi Lane said.
“The building is occupied and that’s a good thing. We are happy to have their guests spending money in Palm Coast, just like any visitors,” she said. “We’d love to have them return with their families for vacations and maybe some of them will even decide to move here.”
The Jehovah’s Witnesses purchased the property for $7.025 million in June from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, which had owned the complex and had leased it to the FAA since 1987. After the FAA vacated the building in January 2013, the facility remained empty until the end of August this year — not long enough for it to become dilapidated, but long enough for crews to be faced with an extensive cleanup. The facility includes several buildings that house some 200 dormitory rooms, eight classrooms and an indoor swimming pool.
By the end of the summer, hundreds of volunteers had painted, swept, mopped, scrubbed and spruced up hundreds of rooms. More maintenance is expected, but most areas of the building are being put to use, site coordinator Barry Brachna said.
“It was an intense period to get things ready,” said Brachna, who relocated to Palm Coast with his wife to oversee the renovations.
A number of permits remain open or in the review stage, including electric outlet relocations, fence construction, alterations to add laundry equipment, air-conditioning upgrades, fire sprinkler additions and installation of a monument sign, according to the city.
In spite of the work that continues at the facility at 4500 Palm Coast Parkway S.E., Brachna said the Jehovah’s Witnesses lucked out when they discovered the property. It didn’t take long for the decision-makers to realize how well it suited them.
“It’s just ideal for us,” he said. “This facility was used before for training. That’s how it was set up.
“The full extent of the use of the building hasn’t been determined yet. That’s still a work in progress. Three classrooms are being used. We want to get two more up and running no later than April 1.”
Everyone who works at the facility is a volunteer, Brachna said. Ministers don’t get paid. Instructors at the facility get a “modest reimbursement,” but not a salary, he said.
“I’m here volunteering, like everyone else.”
The Jehovah’s Witnesses declined a request by The News-Journal to tour the facility. Brachna gave two reasons. For starters, living quarters make up a large section of the building. There are roughly 200 dormitory rooms and personal privacy is respected. Additionally, a lot of work remains in different areas of the building, he said.
For now, the Palm Coast training center is the only such facility owned by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. There are no other centers devoted to the same level of Bible education and training, Brachna said. It remains to be seen whether other facilities in other parts of the country will be used in similar ways.
“We’ll wait to see what the future holds,” he said.
Thus far, the move-in has gone smoothly. Brachna said he has heard only positive feedback from the city and from residents in the area. If anyone is uncomfortable with the arrangement, no one has said so publicly, he said.
The bottom line, Brachna continued, is that the training facility is a center for religious worship and Bible training. Education is critical for Jehovah’s Witnesses and the new facility gives them a place to deepen their understanding of the Bible.
“It’s a community service that we offer,” Brachna said of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ dedication to prayer and Bible teachings. “We don’t want to twist arms. That’s not our purpose. We’re not trying to coerce people to believe something. We believe the Bible has a very practical message ... We’re respectful and we dignify others.
“Jehovah’s Witnesses are known to be law-abiding, safe,” he continued. “We’re not a threat to anyone. So, from that standpoint, we’ve been getting positive comments from neighbors.”
