FLOWERY BRANCH — It’s been 23 long months of construction, but the dust has finally settled at Blackshear Place Baptist Church.

Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the new and improved church — at a cost of $16 million — are now complete and senior pastor the Rev. Jeff Crook is inviting the community to the church this Sunday to celebrate the grand opening.

"We’re putting a lot into this day," he said. "Of course we have Gov. Sonny Perdue joining us and when he finishes offering words of congratulations and has prayer for our church I will begin a new series on the family and I have called it ‘Families in Danger.’"

Gov. Sonny Perdue will be a guest in both morning services along with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who is counted among the 5,500 members at Blackshear Place.

"This past Sunday was the first Sunday it was officially open, and we had from Wednesday a week ago to Sunday to move everything from the old to new," said Stephen Odum, director of communications at Blackshear Place. "Everything is really regular (for the worship services); it’s just highlighting the new building.

"This past Sunday is the day we moved ourselves into it and worked out kinks, and this Sunday we are inviting the community."

The overhaul and 75,000-square-foot expansion of the church began in October 2005 with Phase 1 that refurbished the worship center. Phase 2, which broke ground May 28, 2006, included a compete overhaul of the church’s facade and children’s wing.

The children’s wing, for preschoolers and children, is on the second and third level of Building A. The second level, for the preschoolers, is called Small Town.

Small Town is located directly off the main lobby and for security purposes has just one entrance. The classrooms are twice the size of the original classrooms, the walls are painted with whimsical, cartoon-like murals and there is an indoor playground and area called Grandpa Obie’s Farm.

"(The mural) was like a paint by number," said Jackie Frankum, a Blackshear Place volunteer. "What they did was have the first group of volunteers come in and put a first coat on, and now we have come back to put on the second coat and then two coats of polyurethane. The artist will come in and do some highlights."

Visitors will see lots of fun details in the paintings, she said.

"You will see a lot of things ... a 3-D fire station, zoo, we will have a school and a theater."

Added Odum, "In Grandpa Obie’s Farm ... they will have a barn and a fence and a tree, so all that will be put in with the puppets behind them."

Upstairs from Small Town is Venture Zone for ages kindergarten through fifth grade. Venture Zone is anchored by areas called pods and, like Small Town, has only one area of access.

"(They are) gathering spaces with six to seven classrooms and they would be an age-specific area," said the Rev. Chris Martin, minister of administration at Blackshear Place.

Along with Venture Zone, a new Kidz Church was added. The space is complete with a stage and a sound booth for Sunday services.

"They do a complete show on Sunday morning with actors — they do drama," Odum said.

On Sunday, Kidz Church will launch a new series called "The Galaxy Chronicles."

Along with the children’s wing, which serves around 600 children, other areas of the church that saw improvement were the main lobby, which is now about 10,000 square feet of fellowship space, and nine new glass doors.

"There is a new welcome center with digital signage," Odum said, along with "a new entrance into the worship center as well."

A pastor’s guest reception area was also added, which is adjacent to the worship center for Crook to meet with visitors after each service. There is a spacious upper lobby for more fellowship, a baptistry support room and a coffee house for morning refreshments.

"Our people have been great to navigate their way around the maze, but opening it is so wonderful," Crook said. "The space has a lot of volume to it, and it can handle all the families that are coming to our church.

"We’ve built a great building that reflects our region. As you see all these things that are popping up, it sort of complements a lot of the new places that are being built."