A site plan has been approved for the reconstruction of the First Church of God, which was destroyed by fire on Dec. 26 in the city.

A site plan has been approved to replace a city church that was destroyed by fire last December.

On Tuesday, the city Planning Commission approved a site plan for the reconstruction of the First Church of God, located at 291 Falconer St., that will be located in a similar footprint as the old church. The only difference will be an additional 1,500 square feet to the parking lot, said Andy Johnson, who is the principal engineer for EcoStrategies Engineering and Surveying of Falconer.

The Rev. Mervin Lee of the First Church of God said they have a small congregation of about 40 people.

He said the new building will hopefully allow the church to expand their congregation because it will be more handicapped accessible. He added that everything will be on one level, with no steps being needed to get into the church.

No cause for the Dec. 26 fire has been determined.

In other Planning Commission business, they also approved a site plan for a parking lot expansion for Lutheran. Tom Holt, Lutheran chief executive officer, said the parking lot expansion will take place on property they have owned since the beginning of the campus at 715 Falconer St.