Nearly three months after a string of fires near downtown Bend, Trinity Episcopal Church is finding the process of rebuilding more daunting than previously thought.

In the early morning hours of March 6, an arsonist or arsonists burned Trinity Episcopal, its annex building, St. Helens Hall, two cars, two garages and a woodpile. Despite a $20,000 reward offered by Bend Police, no suspects have been identified.

The two church buildings two blocks south of the library suffered the worst of the damage, where in both cases, investigators believe those responsible broke a window in order to light the buildings on fire from the inside.

A large portion of Trinity Episcopal has been demolished so that rebuilding can begin, and according to parish director Jan Stalker, the roof of St. Helens Hall will soon be replaced.

As of late March, church officials were projecting that the reconstruction of Trinity Episcopal would begin in June and span 18 months, while the roof replacement would begin in late April and be complete by July 1.

Now, according to Stalker, it’s expected to be two years until Trinity Episcopal is reopened, and if the roof replacement begins in early June, the church can hold services in St. Helens Hall in September.

Surprises encountered during inspection and demolition have delayed the process, Stalker said.

“When they got in there and started doing the damage mitigation process, we ended up disturbing asbestos and it added to the process,” she said. “It simply had to be removed, because it wasn’t sealed up like it should be.”

The price tag is now estimated in multiple millions of dollars, Stalker said. Both buildings are insured, she said, and the church’s insurer has been cooperative.

At 7:30 p.m. June 1, a traveling choir will be holding a fundraising concert to help Trinity Episcopal rebuild.

The University Singers from Ohio Northern University had previously committed to playing at Trinity Episcopal before the fire, Stalker said. When she contacted the choir director to explain the church no longer had a space in which the singers could perform, the group offered to hold the concert as a fundraiser if she could find an alternative venue.

First United Methodist Church volunteered to host the choir, just as they’d hosted Trinity Episcopal’s first services after the fire, and the Family Kitchen meals program that was displaced from St. Helens Hall. The concert is free, but donations for Trinity Episcopal’s rebuilding effort will be accepted.

Meanwhile, police said their investigation is stalled. Bend Police spokesman Chris Carney said he’s continuing to hold out hope that whoever lit the fires told someone, and that the reward motivates them to share that information with police.

Carney said there doesn’t seem to be much to support the theory some have advanced that the fires may have been connected to an immigrants rights event hosted by Trinity Episcopal the evening before the fire. Carney said a representative of Senator Jeff Merkley’s office called him to ask about the theory, but for now, all indications suggest the fires were not a bias-motivated act.

“Based on the facts, yes, a church was involved, but there’s all these other fires that are clearly related, and our investigation suggests they’re related,” Carney said. “I just don’t see it, I would sure lean a lot less toward that than if we’d had four church fires in different parts of the city.”

The arson is assigned to a detective with Bend Police, Carney said, but as it is currently regarded as a property crime, the investigation takes a back seat to violent crimes.

The Trinity Episcopal congregation is continuing to hold its Sunday services at the historic St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church on the corner of Franklin Avenue and Lava Road. Stalker said while they used to hold two services each Sunday at the now-damaged church, in their temporary home, they’ve moved to a single 9 a.m. service.

“It just felt like this was a traumatic enough event that we all needed to be together,” she said.